De Souza added to list of champions for Piha

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

The inaugural Piha Pro has added another world champion to its ranks, with Brazilian Adriano De Souza today confirmed as an entrant.

Following on from the announcements of Kelly Slater and Carissa Moore, De Souza's participation ensures that 16 world championships are represented at Piha next month.

Remarkably, the World Surf League Challenger Series event will have no fewer than 22 competitors from the elite Championship Tour (CT) taking part.

The men's side is headlined by 11-time world champion Slater and 2015 champion De Souza, with Hawaiian Seth Moniz and Australian Jack Freestone the other standouts from the world's top 20.

On the women's side, five of the world's top 10 surfers will be at Piha, with four-time world champion Carissa Moore, Brazilian Tatiana Weston-Webb, France's Johanne Defay, Hawaiian Malia Manuel and Australian Nikki Van Dijk.

The WSL's new Challenger Series is the highest-level qualifying event for the Championship Tour. It comprises eight events and features CT surfers, as well as the hungriest young competitors in the world aiming to claim a place in the top tier of global surfing.

Five Kiwis are entered to compete in the Corona Piha Pro, with local hopes spearheaded by experienced WSL athletes Paige Hareb and Mahia/Gisborne's Ricardo Christie, both of whom will be aiming to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Four more New Zealanders are guaranteed entry, with two male and two female surfers to emerge from a national trial competition on March 15.

De Souza said that when he saw a Challenger Series event was being held in New Zealand he was “so pumped to go” because he had never been there.

“My good friend Ricardo Christie is from New Zealand so I'm hoping he will give me some good tips,” De Souza said.

“This event will be a great way to prepare for the Championship Tour, which starts only a week later. It will be a big test.”

The full list of CT athletes entered in the inaugural Corona Piha Pro —

Men: Kelly Slater, Jadson Andre, Adriano De Souza, Yago Dora, Ethan Ewing, Leonardo Fioravanti, Jack Freestone, Seth Moniz, Frederico Morais, Alex Ribeiro, Jack Robinson, Deivid Silva.

Women: Keely Andrew, Macy-Jane Callaghan, Johanne Defay, Brisa Hennessy, Bronte Macaulay, Malia Manuel, Isabella Nichols, Amuro Tsuzuki, Nikki Van Dijk, Tatiana Weston-Webb.

Women's CT Champion in 2019: Carissa Moore.

The Corona Piha Pro WSL Challenger Series event runs from March 16 to 22 at Piha Beach.