Sammy Pupo and Erin Brooks Win in Saquarema in Challenger Series Finale
2024 World Tour Roster Confirmed as Athletes Make Last-Minute Push for Qualification
@samuel_pupo
Brazilian Sammy Pupo put together an incredible, last-minute push for requalification in front of his home crowd in Brazil this week, taking a historic win in Saquarema to confirm his spot on the world tour for the second time. Pupo overcame young Hawaiian talent Eli Hanneman and Tahitian upstart Mihimana Braye en route to victory, earning his place on tour for 2024.
Meanwhile, Erin Brooks took out a rampaging Sophie McCullough in the women’s draw, taking the win for Canada. While both Brooks and McCullough came up short in their bid for qualification, they both ended the year in the top 11 on the Challenger Series, confirming their seed on the 2024 Challenger tour, where they will continue their respective campaigns for qualification.
The top 5 women and top 10 men on the Challenger Series earned spots on the 2024 World Tour, where they will battle for a world title next year. India Robinson, Sally Fitzgibbons, Sawyer Lindblad, Alyssa Spencer, and Isabella Nichols will join defending world champion Caroline marks, Carissa Moore, Tyler Wright, Caitlin Simmers, Molly Picklum, Stephanie Gilmore, Lakey Peterson, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Gabriela Bryan, Bettylou Sakura Johnson, and season wild card Johanne Defay on the 2024 women’s World Tour.
On the men’s side, new recruits Cole Houshmand, Sammy Pupo, Jacob Wilcox, Crosby Colapinto, Eli Hanneman, Imaikalani deVault, Frederico Morais, Jake Marshal, Kade Matson, and Deivid Silva join defending world champ Felipe Toledo, Ethan Ewing, Griffin Colapinto, Joao Chianca, Jack Robinson, Gabriel Medina, Yago Dora, John John Florence, Leonardo Fioravanti, Ryan Callinan, Connor O’Leary, Barron Mamiya, Italo Ferreira, Kanoa Igarashi, Ian Gentil, Jordy Smith, Liam O’Brien, Caio Ibelli, Matthew McGillivray, Callum Robson, Rio Waida, Seth Moniz, and wild card Kelly Slater on tour. Although Sammy Pupo’s brother Miguel failed to requalify this year, the tour has a new family dynamic with the addition of Crosby Colapinto, whose brother Griffin Colapinto finished the year ranked third.
With all of the major tours wrapped up for the year, the focus now turns to the early season QS events, which are the pathway to qualification for next year’s Challenger Series. At the same time, the North Pacific has started to wake up, with one of the biggest early season swells in history slamming Hawaii last week. Winter is coming—are you ready?