For rookie Robinson, this marks the first CT victory of his much-heralded young career and the first win for a rookie since 2018. It’s the only Tour win for an Australian male this season, and for the effort, Robinson moves up to 12th on the WSL Leaderboard and will now safely requalify for the 2022 season.
Letting out a howl of relief in his post heat interview, all week long Robinson had done a remarkable job of staying within himself and taking it one wave at a time. He finally let himself smile and soak in the moment when it was all done.
“I don’t even know where to start…it’s the feeling I got when I qualified,” Robinson said. “I was trying to carry this energy all week and stay to myself. I felt like I was in the zone.”
Gilmore’s win came after a hard-fought day of surfing that started with a battle against Carissa Moore in the Semifinals. With 11 World Titles between them, it was a clash of the two most dominant women over the last decade, and potentially a preview of what we may see at Lower Trestles at the upcoming Rip Curl WSL Finals.
In the Final, Gilmore went toe to toe with Hawaii’s Malia Manuel, who donned the words “AI Forever” on her jersey in honor of the 2006 Barra champ and fellow surfer from Kauai Andy Irons. It went down to the wire, but in the end, the Queen of Snapper Rocks was simply too good on Finals Day. Manuel needed to win the event to requalify for the 2022 CT season.
Robinson kicked off his journey to the top of the podium today by going ham in the Semis against Mateus Herdy. He opened up with a 7.33 alley oop, then elevated his score even higher with an 8.67 for the barrel of the event and probably the heaviest wave we saw ridden all week long.
With a style honed on Australia’s Gold Coast points, Stephanie Gilmore was right at home at Barra De La Cruz and is now the first women’s winner at this idyllic location in Mexico. – WSL / TONY HEFF
That set up a clash of two different styles featuring Robinson and Deivid Silva. The Brazilian goofy-footer had been dropping backside hammers all event long, but it was the variety of Robinson’s surfing, from airs, to barrels, to big wrapping carves, that put him over the top in the Final.
It’s been a brilliant week of surfing down in Mexico, and like that, the wild and crazy ride that has been the 2021 Championship Tour regular season is done and dusted. The surf world’s collective attention will now shift its gaze to San Clemente, California, where we will see World Champions crowned at the inaugural Rip Curl WSL Finals.
The 2021 Corona Open Presented By Quiksilver. Left to right: Stephanie Gilmore, Malia Manuel, Jack Robinson, Deivid Silva. – WSL / TONY HEFF
WSL Final 5 Seeds Locked In
For the first time, surfing is about to enter the post season. The 2021 World Champions will be crowned at Lower Trestles this September in the debut of the Rip Curl WSL Finals. With the regular season now in the rearview mirror, the seeds have been locked in. Here’s the breakdown:
Women’s WSL Final 5 Seeds
Men’s WSL Final 5 Seeds
The number one seeds, Moore and Medina, will both receive a bid directly into the Title Match, a best-of-three showdown to determine the World Champion.
The remaining surfers will enter the Rip Curl WSL Finals bracket based on their year-end rankings. For more on how this one-day, winner-take-all affair is going to go down, check out our handy 2021 Rip Curl WSL Finals Format explainer.
Carissa Moore will be the WSL Final 5 number one seed at Lower Trestles this September. – WSL / TONY HEFF