The Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona, Stop No. 7 of the World Surf League (WSL) 2022 Championship Tour (CT), opens on Sunday, June 12 and holds a competition window through Monday, June 20, 2022.
In the seventh of ten CT competitions before the Rip Curl WSL Finals, the stakes continue to rise with the fight for the WSL Final 5.
The Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona will be the first CT event held at the famed, high-performance, right-hand point break known as Punta Roca, which is also called La Punta or Punta Chilama.
Ranking Leaders Moore and Toledo Set Themselves Apart
Current ranking leaders Carissa Moore (HAW) and Filipe Toledo (BRA) hold their respective World No. 1 places by the slimmest of margins but sit well within the Final 5 by nearly 10,000 points.
Both Moore’s and Toledo’s fantastic showings at the Quiksilver/ROXY Pro G-Land earned them runner-up finishes to garner their third Finals appearances of the season (Toledo’s third-consecutive).
For five-time WSL Champion Moore, an event win is the only thing missing in her campaign toward her outstanding sixth World Title.
Jack Robinson and Brisa Hennessy Ready to Strike
Brisa Hennessy’s (CRI) tug-of-war match with Moore for the yellow leader jersey has proven she’s capable of contending with the world’s best and now looks for a second win in 2022 to move back to No. 1 or stay at No. 2 on the rankings.
World No. 2 Jack Robinson (AUS) finished with his second-consecutive CT victory, his third-career win, as he returns to Central America in hopes of victory once again.
Robinson’s maiden CT win came in Mexico just last year at the right-hand point break of Barra de la Cruz and is all too familiar with world-class right-handers.
Surf City El Salvador Pro Wildcards and Injury Updates
Caroline Marks (USA) will return to competition as the 2022 WSL season wildcard.
Carlos Munoz (CRI) also returns after his injury sustained at Pipeline in the absence of John John Florence (HAW), who announced his torn MCL following the Quiksilver Pro G-Land. Yago Dora (BRA) will continue to replace Seth Moniz (HAW), and ‘The Ultimate Surfer’ winner Tia Blanco (USA) will get another shot at the world’s best at the Surf City El Salvador Pro.
2023 WSL season wildcard and 2022 injury replacement, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), will replace Tyler Wright (AUS), who has withdrawn from the competition. The remaining men’s wildcard spots will be given to the winner of the local trials, taking place on Saturday, June 11.
WSL’s Highly-Anticipated Return to Punta Roca
Only the Qualifying Series (QS) has taken to the pristine lineup of Punta Roca, both as men’s and women’s events in separate years, with the last being a women’s QS 6,000 in 2016. Only two of the world’s best women including 2021 World Title contender Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) and Margaret River Pro victor Isabella Nichols (AUS) have competed in the WSL jersey in El Salvador, alongside wildcard Blanco.
Also, the likes of Caio Ibelli (BRA), Miguel Pupo (BRA), and injury replacement Munoz competed at this destination wave in 2013 when on the hunt to qualify for the CT. Surf City El Salvador Pro pres. by
Corona Women’s Opening Round 1 Matchups:
HEAT 1: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA), Lakey Peterson (USA), Gabriela Bryan (HAW)
HEAT 2: Carissa Moore (HAW), Courtney Conlogue (USA), Tia Blanco (USA)
HEAT 3: Brisa Hennessy (CRI), Isabella Nichols (AUS), Caroline Marks (USA)
HEAT 4: Johanne Defay (FRA), Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
Surf City El Salvador Pro pres. by Corona Men’s Opening Round 1 Matchups:
HEAT 1: Ethan Ewing (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF), Jackson Baker (AUS)
HEAT 2: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), Connor O’Leary (AUS), Yago Dora (BRA)
HEAT 3: Jack Robinson (AUS), Kelly Slater (USA), Carlos Munoz (CRI)
HEAT 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Samuel Pupo (BRA), TBD
HEAT 5: Italo Ferreira (BRA), Kolohe Andino (USA), Jake Marshall (USA)
HEAT 6: Griffin Colapinto (USA), Caio Ibelli (BRA), Jadson Andre (BRA)
HEAT 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Callum Robson (AUS), Matthew McGillivray (ZAF)
HEAT 8: Miguel Pupo (BRA), Barron Mamiya (HAW), Nat Young (USA)
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