Culburra Beach's Owen Wright will start his assault on the newly introduced World Surf League (WSL) Challenger Series in France next month, as he begins his requalification process for next year's Champions Tour (CT).
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The complete redesign of professional surfing's ladder in 2021 now offers a clear path for athletes to come up the ranks through the Qualifying Series and ultimately join the world's best, or like in Wright's case, requalify for the prestigious CT.
The Challenger Series, though condensed to four events (US Open, Portugal, France, Hawaii) due to COVID in 2021, will feature eight stops, combined men and women events with equal prize money starting next year.
The festivities will launch in France with the Quiksilver and ROXY Junior Pro 40 from October 13-15, the final event for young surfers, that will crown the European junior champions - just days before the elite athletes hit the water for stop number three of the Challenger Series.
Wright, who won a bronze medal in Tokyo, is one of the numerous big names that will compete at Landes, including France's Michael Bourez and Johanne Defay, United States' Caroline Marks, Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb, Japan's Kanoa Igarashi, Portugal's Frederico Morais and Italy's Leonardo Fioravanti.
The pressure to perform in France is on because it'll determine who qualifies for the Challenger Series' final event in Hawaii - set to feature 80 men and 40 women.
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