- WSL / Kirstin Scholtz/ ASP Handout
- WSL / Kirstin Scholtz/ ASP Handout
O'Neill SP Prime: Finals Day Highlights
Filipe Toledo, Matt Banting, Carlos Munoz and more light up Maresias on the QS contest's finals day.

Following the completion of the O'Neill SP Prime at Maresias, Brazil, a new Qualification Series (QS) rankings leader has emerged. Congratulations to Filipe Toledo (BRA) on his win and move to first on the ranks over Matt Banting (AUS).

The current cutoff point is at Charles Martin (GLP), who actually dropped three spots to 9,575 points. This is assuming that Toledo, Jadson Andre (BRA), Adriano De Souza (BRA) and Julian Wilson (AUS) hold their Top 22 spots on the World Championship Tour (WCT) rankings.

Matt Banting (AUS) Banting remains at the top of the list of competitors looking to qualify for WCT for the first time. - WSL / photo:DanielSmorigo

The 10 qualifiers, outside the WCT surfers poised to requalify with their elite Tour rank, are:

Hot on the heels of Martin -- sitting fewer than 65 points behind -- are Ricardo Christie (NZL), Brett Simpson (USA), Tim Reyes (USA) and Willian Cardoso (BRA). All four can make the QS Top 10 with just one good result and, with two more QS events left -- the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa and the Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach -- anyone can come from nowhere and make it. A 49th-place finish at Haleiwa would see any of these jump ahead of the next surfer above them on the ranks. It's that close.

Ian Gouveia (BRA) was eliminated in Round 5. Gouveia is still outside the Top 10 but he advanced 41 spots after the O'Neill SP Prime. - WSL

The big movers upwards from the SP Prime in Brazil are Ian Gouveia (BRA) (+41 spots), Noe Mar McGonagle (CRI) (+32 spots), Connor O'Leary (AUS) (+27 spots), Carlos Munoz (CRI) (+22 spots) and Nathan Hedge (AUS) (+21 spots). Freestone and Wilson both advanced 13 spots and Duru jumped seven spots to No. 13.

The Reef Hawaiian Pro kicks off Wednesday, November 12, followed immediately by the Vans World Cup starting November 24. The contests will be filled with WCT surfers pushing all the QS hopefuls back a round or two.

Most of the surfers are looking to replace 400-to-700-point low scores. The cutoff points? Looks like it will be less than the predicted 11,000 and could possibly be as low as 10,000.

Al Hunt Bio:
Al Hunt is a former competitor who has helped develop the ASP since its inception. Hunt was Head Judge in 1983, the ASP's first year, and became Tour Manager starting in 1984.

Hunt has worked as ASP Tour Manager since that time, attending more than 1,000 events and contributing a wealth of professional surfing knowledge and history. Hunt's Situation Room is designed to keep fans informed on rankings shifts throughout the 2014 ASP season.

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