The Beachwaver Maui Pro, the final stop on the 2018 World Surf League (WSL) Women’s Championship Tour (CT), will host the highly-anticipated World Title showdown and the last opportunity for CT requalification later this week.
Held at Honolua Bay in Maui, Hawaii, the waiting period opens on Sunday, November 25 and runs through Wednesday, December 5, 2018. During this time, event organizers will closely monitor the waves and only run during the best conditions.
In the 2018 World Title Race, only Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) and Lakey Peterson (USA) are mathematically in contention to win the prestigious World Championship and await the Beachwaver Maui Pro.
The World Title scenarios going into the Beachwaver Maui Pro are as follows:
– Gilmore will win the World Title with a 3rd or better at the Beachwaver Maui Pro.
– If Gilmore finishes 5th or worse, Peterson must win the event to force a surf-off* for the World Title
– *In the event of a tie for any World Title at the end of the Surfing Season, the tied Surfer will have a “surf-off” during the final Event, which will have the format determined by the Commissioner’s Office.
For Gilmore, the six-time WSL Champion, winning means making history by clinching a record-equalling seventh World Title. The accomplishment would put Gilmore into an elite class within surfing’s World Champions as one of only three individuals to earn seven World Titles, Layne Beachley (7) and Kelly Slater (11).
For Peterson, defeating Gilmore would mark the American’s first World Title. Peterson is the highest-ranked American surfer on both the women’s and men’s World Rankings, and the win in Maui would push the event into a Surf-Off for the win. With two event wins this year (Gold Coast, Bali) and two runner-up finishes (J-Bay, Rio), Peterson has the potential to upset Gilmore’s hunt for gold.
