Christie into QS top 10 after quarterfinal exit

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Gisborne-Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie has rocketed up the World Surf League Qualifying Series rankings following his top eight finish at the Ballito Pro in South Africa.

Christie was eliminated by Australian Jack Freestone in the quarterfinals of the 10,000-point contest off the coast of Durban.

The Aussie scored 13.34 (6.17, 7.17) out of 20 for his two best waves while Christie posted 12.80 (6.67, 6.13).

Freestone went on to lose to Brazilian Peterson Crisanto 16.93 to 14.13 in the final.

Christie ended up fifh-equal in the first of five 10,000-point QS contests of the year. He picked up US$7000 and 5200 ranking points for his efforts.

Those points thrust him up the QS world rankings to ninth after going into the contest in 59th position.

Christie now has a total of 8555 points from his five top results — he has actually only competed in five contests.

Crisanto leads the standings on 13,720 from Hawaiian Seth Moniz (12,950) and Aussie Mikey Wright (12,205). Freestone improved from 158th to fifth on the rankings.

The result is a huge boost to Christie’s campaign as he looks to make his way back into the top-tier Championship Tour.

The top 10 from the QS at the end of the season earn places on the 2019 CT Tour.

The next 10,000-point QS contest is the US Open of Surfing at California’s Huntington Beach at the end of the month.