Matt Dunbar @WSL
Jeffrey's Bay surfer Matt McGillivray has succeeded in his quest to requalify for the elite Championship Tour after a tense day of surfing at Margaret River in Western Australia.
The Rip Curl surfer, who calls Supertubes his home break, beat Brazilian surfer Samuel Pupo in the round of 16 on Wednesday and then took out 2019 World Champion Italo Ferreira from Brazil in the quarterfinals.
McGillivray eventually lost to event favourite and eventual runner-up John John Florence of Hawaii in the semi-finals - but by then he'd done more than enough to survive the mid-season cut - along with fellow South African Jordy Smith - who managed a quarter-final finish in huge surf at Margaret River.
McGillivray and Smith are now guaranteed their spots on the remainder of this year's Championship Tour AND the 2023 Championship Tour.
McGillivray is already relishing the prospect of surfing in front of his home crowd at his beloved Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay at the Corona J-Bay Open from 12-21 July this year.
Isabella Nichols of Australia and fellow Aussie Jack Robinson were the winners of the Margaret River Pro. Championship Tour rookie Gabriela Bryan of Hawaii and two-time WSL Champion John John Florence earned runner-up finishes after great performances of their own in the eight-to-ten foot waves at Main Break.
One men's and one women's season wildcard, as well as one men's and one women's wildcard per event, will join the CT field in the second half of the season.
The next stop on the WSL 2022 Championship Tour is the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro G-Land, a left-hand reef break that breaks off the jungles of Java in Indonesia, and which holds a competition window from May 28 through June 6.
