Margaret River product Jack Robinson chasing first World Surf League championship title

Margaret River product Jack Robinson will be hunting his first World Surf League championship title at the league’s finals day in San Clemente in California on Friday. Fresh off his silver medal win at the Paris Olympics last month, Robinson finished the tour’s regular season as the third seed following a third-placed finish at last week’s Fiji Pro, with a win in the first round all he needed to qualify for the final. A win at his hometown Margaret River Pro in April was one of his two victories on the 11-event tour this year, also taking out the Sunset Beach Pro in Hawaii in February. The WSL championship finals day is a relatively new concept, first being staged in 2022. Getting rid of the traditional multi-day format, the finals will see the tour’s top-five seeded surfers compete for a place in the best-of-three title match, which the No.1 seed automatically qualifies for. As the No.3 seed, Robinson has a bye in the first round but will need to win his next three events to take out the title. Robinson qualified for the inaugural 2022 finals as the second seed but was knocked out in his first surf against Brazil’s Italo Ferreira, while his scrape through to last year’s finals as a fifth seed came to an early end with defeat to Brazillian Joao Chianca in his first outing. Robinson’s first event at this year’s finals may be an all-Australian match-up, with Queenslander Ethan Ewing who made last year’s finals match, coming in as the No.4 seed. Legendary American John John Florence — who Robinson beat in the round of 16 at the Olympics — is the No.1 seed. Robinson will be looking to become the 19th Australian surfer to win a world title and the first male since Mick Fanning in 2013. A first call on whether conditions will allow the event to be staged will be made at 10.30pm on Friday WA time.