Early exit in Portugal a blow to Christie’s bid

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

GISBORNE/Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie has suffered a tough Round 3 loss overnight in the EDP Billabong Pro Cascais in Portugal.

Surfing in messy, overhead waves, Christie had a difficult time finding the right waves and could put together a score of only 6.77 out of his two highest-scoring waves (out of a possible 20).

Australia’s Wade Carmichael topped the heat with 16.60, while Brazilian Championship Tour (CT) surfer Italo Ferreira was second with 13.36.

Noe Mar McGonagle of Costa Rica finished third, posting 12.87.

The top two progressed to Round 4.

The Cascais competition was one of five top events on the World Surf League Qualifying Series (QS) offering the winner 10,000 points towards CT 2018 qualification.

Christie sat in 15th place on the QS with 10,650 points before the competition but will likely slide down the rankings following his early exit from this competition.

He needs to finish the year in the top 10 (at least 20,000 points) to requalify for the Championship Tour.

He can qualify from outside the top 10, but only if surfers above him also qualify by way of the CT.

The next big competition on the QS is the Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii, starting on November 12.