Surfing: Ricardo Christie charges up World Surf League qualifying series table after Ballito Pro

Ricardo Christie finished fifth at the Ballito Pro in South Africa. Photo / WSL

After getting a taste for the World Surf League Championship Tour in 2015, Kiwi Ricardo Christie's bid to return to the top is well underway.

Christie, 29, claimed fifth place at the Ballito Pro - the first 10,000-point qualifying series (QS) event of the year - in South Africa at the weekend, bagging 5200 points toward his campaign.

The Kiwi, who together with partner Sophie Steevens welcomed newborn son Jai to the world in May, climbed 50 places up the QS leaderboard after the event in Ballito and sat ninth heading into the business end of the year.

With the general aim for surfers hunting qualification being around 20,000 points, the results gives him a nice headstart with five QS10,000s and a handful of QS3000s still to come this season.

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The best part about working hard toward something is when the time comes to simply let go and JUST DO IT!!! Back in Ballito, South Africa for the first @wsl 10000 which starts tomorrow!!!🌪🌪🌪 📷 @shauntunny

A post shared by RICARDO CHRISTIE (@ricardochristie) on Jun 24, 2018 at 1:11am PDT

A top-10 finish on the QS guarantees qualification to the Championship Tour. However, if a surfer requalifies by way of a top-22 finish on the CT as well, the next best QS surfer is promoted.

Christie finished in 16th place on the ladder in 2014, but because a number of those above him had already requalified on the CT, he was promoted for the 2015 campaign.

It was clear from his opening heat in the Ballito Pro that the Kiwi had arrived with his eyes on the prize, winning his opening heat with a two-wave combined total of 13.04 and eliminating current CT surfer Pat Gudauskas in the process.

He continued to be one of the stand out performers of the event as the money rounds drew closer - winning his heats in round three, four and five to reach the quarterfinals.

With an average heat total of 13.02 before the quarterfinals, Christie went into battle against Australian Jack Freestone.

Christie had gotten the better of Freestone in round four, but being a three-man heat a second-place finish there was enough for Freestone to press on. It was a different story in the quarterfinal, with the Kiwi falling agonisingly short.

With Freestone counting a 6.17 and a 7.17, Christie was left searching for a 6.68 to pair with his 6.67 to win the heat but could only find a 6.17 before the final horn sounded. Freestone went on to finish make the final, where he was beaten by Brazilian Peterson Crisanto.

Christie will now look to continue his charge toward to CT later this month, when the QS returns to Huntington Beach, California, for the Vans US Open - where he reached the quarter-finals in 2017 before losing to eventual competition winner Kanoa Igarashi of Japan.