WSL revamps CT: Final Five, midseason cut, Challenger Series

The World Surf League restructured the 2022 Championship Tour, combining the men’s and women’s schedules and moving the Pipe Masters to the season opener. It replaced the traditional world-title decider with a one-off Final Five event, reinstated a midseason cut after five events that halves the field, mirrored men’s and women’s schedules across all stops, and created a Challenger Series to give top regional Qualifying Series surfers and CT rejects a pathway back to the Tour — including a slot for the 2023 Championship Tour. League officials said the changes were intended to stage more contests in better conditions and to drive progression; at the time of reporting the Final Five location had not been announced.

Those structural changes reshaped competition and the pathways for athletes. Critics argued the revisions reduce opportunities for late-season comebacks and surprise upsets, citing Jack Robinson’s drop from 12th in 2021 to 26th as an example of a result that could be affected by a midseason cut. Wildcards and replacement surfers strongly impacted event outcomes, even as veteran competitors such as Kelly Slater continued to win amid increased flux, and former champion Mick Fanning made a wildcard return to Bells Beach after retiring. Reporting also referenced Simon Anderson’s invention of the thruster as part of the sport’s ongoing technical progression.

The format changes intersected with other storylines on the Tour: Bells Beach returned to the CT for the first time since 2018 after COVID-related breaks, and Italo Ferreira’s 2018 Bells win was noted as a precursor to his 2019 world title and Olympic gold. The WSL’s revisions produced headline championship outcomes — reporting cited both Carissa Moore and Gabriel Medina as entering finals ranked No. 1 and claiming world titles — while raising questions about whether the new format will accelerate performance and innovation or erode underdog narratives and unpredictability. The preview also flagged mental-health leaves for Gabriel Medina and Caroline Marks as a notable subplot affecting top competitors.