Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing book places on WSL 2020 tour as future of Aussie surfing arrives

On a magical day in Hawaii, two young Aussies put their hand up to begin a new era in surfing by booking a place on next year’s world tour.

Jack Robinson is one of the best barrel riders in the world.

A historically bad year in Australian surfing is finishing on a brighter note, fittingly at Sunset.

The Vans World Cup of Surfing, held this week at Sunset Beach on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, was the final opportunity for surfers hoping to qualify for next year’s World Surf League to book their place.

A pair of 21-year-olds — Western Australia’s Jack Robinson and Queensland’s Ethan Ewing — did just that on finals day.

Needing deep runs to climb inside the top 10 on the QS rankings, the duo carved their way to the final, which Robinson won with a score of 19.07 of a possible 20.

Congratulations Jack Robinson, winner of the #VansWorldCup and official 2020 Championship Tour Rookie!#VTCS @vanssurf pic.twitter.com/RovXWTzvUx

— World Surf League (@wsl) December 3, 2019

Despite facing world tour competitors in every heat from round three onwards, the young pair delivered on the potential they’ve shown during standout junior careers to crush their opposition.

Robinson, who is one of the best barrel riders on the planet and embarrassed most of the tour when he appeared as a wildcard at his local break in Margaret River earlier this year, has long been earmarked as a WSL competitor but struggled to find consistent results in the less than consistent waves which often plague the QS.

But he ensured a bright start to 2019 — he won an event at Pipeline in February and finished third in Newcastle in March — wasn’t wasted by dominating the waves at Sunset.

Jack Robinson was a beast at The Box back in June. (Photo by Kelly Cestari/WSL via Getty Images)

He’ll be a full-time competitor on the WSL for the first time in 2020, where as Ewing will be back for his second crack.

He was a revelation on the QS as a 17-year-old in 2016, finishing second, but struggled to find his feet among the top 32 the following year, failing to win more than one heat at any of the 11 events.

Despite his exceptional talent he missed out on requalifying last year, finishing 14th on the QS — just one position short of what he needed.

But the North Stradbroke local, whose style has been compared to three-time world champion Andy Irons, made no mistake this week and will be much better prepared to ensure his stay in the top tier is a long one this time around.

Robinson and Ewing will be joined by Cronulla’s Connor O’Leary — who requalified after falling off tour last year — and potentially Merewether’s Morgan Cibilic, who needs Brazil’s Deivid Silva to hold a position in the WSL top 22 through next week’s Pipe Masters.

Ethan Ewing couldn’t get out of round three in 2017.

Owen Wright, Julian Wilson, Ryan Callinan, Wade Carmichael, Adrian Buchan and Jack Freestone are all in position to stay on tour in 2020, potentially giving Australia 10 of the top 32.

But we’ll need improved performances to challenge the likes of Gabriel Medina, John John Florence, Italo Ferreira and Filipe Toledo at the top of the rankings.

The retirements of Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Taj Burrow and the arrival of Brazil as a dominant world force will see Australia finish this year without a surfer in the men’s top five for the first time since at least 1998 (and potentially ever, records aren’t easily accessible online).

After winning 17 of the past 21 women’s world titles, we also failed to produce a top three female finisher this year as Carissa Moore won her fourth championship.

With surfing set for its Olympic debut next year, we’re suddenly somewhat of an underdog in a sport we’ve dominated for decades — and the arrival of Robinson and Ewing as legitimate title threats can’t come quick enough.