ASP’s New 36-Man System Revealed!

Nick Carroll

Class is in session, ASP CEO Brodie Carr and former president Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew calling the roll.

Big steps forward for the ASP Tour’s top end in a richer year to come.

A longer-than-expected event and a potentially epic final day has emerged from the ASP’s drawn-out search for a strong format to suit the upcoming 36-man world title system.

The format, whipped up by longtime tour judge Pritamo Ahrendt and approved by the ASP Board over the weekend, pitches the 36 surfers into three 12-heat elimination rounds before reducing ‘em to a final 12 competitors for a ruthless 15-heat showdown, in which the winner will have to surf at least four, and possibly five times.

In effect, it creates a mini-trials for a super intense finale which seems certain to feature only the most in-form surfers at any event.

“We didn’t know if the surfers would be OK (with the final day workload),” says ASP general manager Renato Hickel. “But they were totally fine with it.”


ASP Surfer Rep Mick Fanning crunching the numbers.

An earlier format in which two rounds of three-man heats eliminated just four surfers was discounted by the pros, citing a couple of strong reasons: the lack of reward for high performance in the early rounds, and the very real possibility that surfers might pair up to eliminate a third competitor.

Ahrendt’s format stretches the likely run-time of an event to around three and a half days from the predicted three-day maximum. But surfers and organisers thought it was a small price to pay for the format’s benefits.

Hickel thinks many events will be done in three. “They’d be longer days at the start of an event – 18 heats, maybe 10 hours on some days,” he says. “But we do that sort of day at some events now.”

The boildown to 36 surfers plus an increase in overall prizemoney has set up what looks to ASL to be a serious leap forward for pro surfing in 2011, with the top 12 in each event burning each other down in final day death battles for a minimum $75,000 winners’ purse.

Hickel says that winner’s purse is likely to be exceeded more often than not, with several event licensees already committing to considerably higher overall prizemoney than the mandated $430,000.


Joel Parkinson will have plenty of time to get his head around this new system, potentially out of action until Hawaii.

How The New Format Works
*Following the Billabong Pro Teahupo’o, world title events will reduce overall numbers from 48 to 36 – 32 seeded pros and four wildcards (two ASP and two event selected).

The event opens with three rounds:

First comes 12 heats of three surfers. First in each heat moves to round three. Second and third go to a second round of 12 one-on-one knockout heats. Winners from round two then meet the winners from round one in 12 more one-on-one heats – that’s round three.

At the end of round three, 36 heats have been run, and 12 surfers remain in the event.

*These 12 surfers go into the final phase, which runs like a mini-event in itself over 15 heats and five rounds:

First comes four heats of three surfers. First in each heat moves to the quarterfinals. Second and third go to a round of four one-on-one knockout heats. The winners from these heats then meet the earlier winners in the quarters, and the event goes to semis and a final.

In this compressed final stage, a surfer who is pushed into the second round will have to surf five heats in order to win the event. Overall, surfers who blow both of their three-man rounds would end up surfing eight times to win overall.

*In addition: the ASP Women’s world title event format will be simplified along similar lines to the men’s in 2011. The awkward double elimination round near the beginning of events will be replaced with a more straightforward one.

Click here for info on the newly announced richest event on tour.