Surfing Republica - WSL awards wildcards for Rio Pro without Carlos Muñoz or Lucca Mesinas
Four Brazilians, one American and two Peruvians will be the wildcards for the eighth stop of the World Surfing Tour.
The World Surf League (WSL) announced the wildcards for the Rio Pro 2022. The list includes four Brazilian male surfers, however, the absence of any female surfers from the Brazilian team is notable.
The Brazilian event is about to start and the absences of Kelly Slater, John John Florence and Seth Moniz have opened the possibility of awarding wildcards to Latin American Brazilians and not just Brazilians, a very common situation when talking about events held in this South American country.
This year the constant has been variably similar, however, something never seen before has been done, the invitation of a non-Brazilian female surfer to a CT event held on Brazilian soil, it is the Peruvian Sol Aguirre, who together with the American Caroline Marks will be in Rio Pro.
On the men's side, four Brazilians—Gabriel Medina, Yago Dora, Joao Chianca, and Michael Rodríguez—and Peruvian Miguel Tudela will compete in the eighth stop. Joao Chianca's presence is noteworthy, as despite having a lower ranking than Peruvian Lucca Mesinas, the organizers decided to grant the Sacuarema native a wildcard entry. Another point of interest is the absence of Costa Rican Carlos Muñoz, who replaced Hawaiian John John Florence at the seventh stop, the Surf City El Salvador Pro, but was not considered for this event. The WSL justified this by stating that wildcards are awarded to surfers with higher rankings in Challenger Series or South American QS events.
The Rio Pro will take place from June 23rd to 30th and you can find more information at: https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2022/ct/7/oi-rio-pro/