Any Ideas For A New Tour Format?
Over the last 12 months there has been a hell of a lot of discussion about the ASP World Tour and how the formats of the events are run. This year a new event format was brought in at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach and is also being run at the Billabong Pro in Tahiti right now. Not everybody on tour is stoked on the format and I think it is going to come under review.
Having surfed on this tour eight years I have some my own views and ideas on what I think would work best. When I’m trying to think of a format that would suit the tour I’m not thinking about myself personally, I am thinking of all the surfers and what would take the sport to new heights. But rather than rabbit it on about my own ideas I’m actually really interested in what you have to say about the formats.
First up I’ll give you a quick rundown of both the old and new. On the ASP World Tour we have 45 surfers plus three wildcards per event.
The old format was as follows…
Round1: 16 three-man heats with the winner advancing directly in to Round 3 and second and third place moving to Round 2
Round 2: 16 man-on-man heats (from Round 2 all the way to the final we run man-on-man heats)
Round 3: 16 man-on-man heats
Round 4: 8 man-on-man heats
Quarter Finals: 4 man-on-man heats
Semi Final: 2 man-on-man heats
Final: one man-on-man heat
I liked this format because you got to see everyone surf the first day and see who was in form and who to watch out for throughout the event. Some people, including the companies running some of these events, thought the first round was useless because nobody was eliminated. They wanted a change. So the new format was introduced at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach and is being run here at Billabong Pro Teahupoo too.
The event still consists of 45 World Tour surfers and three wildcards but the new format goes as follows…
Round 1: 16 man-on-man heats featuring the bottom 29 seeds and wildcards, winners progress to Round 2, second place is eliminated from the event
Round 2: 16 man-on-man heats with round 1 winners taking on the top 16 seeds
Round 3: 8 man-on-man heats.
Quarter Finals: 4 man-on-man heats
Semi Final: 2 man-on-man heats
Final: one man-on-man heat
To be honest at first I sort of liked the idea of the new format because it meant one less day of competition so we weren’t wasting good waves. But after Bells I questioned it because I didn’t get to see the top guys surf enough or see who were the major threats coming through the ranks. This year I have only seen Kelly Slater surf twice in competition and he is the defending Word Champ. Crazy right? It kinda feels as though the first round of this new format is like the trials for the main event. The bottom seeds have slogged it out for a year or more on the World Qualifying Series and have earned their spot on the World Tour so I think it’s only fair we all start in the same round. The only thing we really get out of this new format is that it takes three days to run instead of four. There has to be a better solution.
Anyway, there’s talk going down at the moment and some cool ideas being thrown around in regards to new formats. I want to make sure we get ideas from the spectators too and that’s why I’m asking you for any comments or suggestions today. I will pass on your comments and ideas to the ASP and events sponsors. Thanks a mill! – MF
This year we've only seen Kelly surf a few times because of the new format. © Getty Images