We know there will be no final five next year as the WSL ushers in a suite of changes, but they’ve also made a late, but significant tweak to the final five format in Fiji.
The idea has been tossed around for a while amongst the surfers, but now it’s official. If the No. 1 seed wins the first heat of the best-of-three World Title match, they will clinch the World Title without needing to surf a second or third heat. So it’s basically not a best of three if the number one ranked surfer claims the first heat.
Obviously this tweak adds a whole new incentive to finishing number one in the rankings this year. It means a surfer can clench the world title with a single heat victory on Finals day.
In a further incentive to finish higher up the rankings the Top-Seeded Surfer in all Matches will also start with Priority. We had this for Match 1 previously (where World No. 4 had priority over No. 5), but it now will apply to all the Matches.
These changes add a little extra spice to the final regular event in Tahiti. The scramble for the yellow jersey and number one ranking will be ruthless as it means the title is only one heat victory away after Teahupo’o.
By announcing they will axe the final five, the WSL have created a heightened level of anticipation around the Fiji event. Even if you despise the finals day format it suddenly becomes more intriguing when you know it’s the last time you may see it used .
