The Maui News

Ian Gentil secured his spot on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour on Thursday, becoming just the third surfer from Maui to make the top-level tour of professional surfing.

Gentil, 26, entered this week’s Challenger Series finale at Haleiwa, Oahu, at No. 5 in the Challenger standings — the top 10 at the end of the year earn spots in the CT for 2023. Three of those available spots were already clinched before Haleiwa.

Looking to nail down his spot with a strong performance on the North Shore, Gentil fell short in his round-of-64 heat Wednesday and was eliminated. And while he was still in a solid position, he had to wait and see if his previous scores this season would stand up.

He didn’t have to wait long as news of his qualification came down during competition Thursday.

“It’s a bit surprising it came early today,” Gentil was quoted as saying in a WSL news release. “I was waiting for the quarters or semis and I was ready to camp and watch. I’m so thankful for everyone in my corner. It’s kind of hard to imagine this happening without them.”

Gentil earned his Dream Tour spot thanks to a semifinal finish at the EDP Vissla Pro Ericeira, a quarterfinal finish at the Corona Saquarema Pro and a pair of equal-ninth placements at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast Pro and the Vans US Open of Surfing.

Also qualifying Thursday was France’s Maxime Huscenot, leaving just four spots to be decided on Finals Day.

Still in the mix for one of those spots is Maui’s Imaikalani deVault, who is trying to requalify after his maiden CT voyage in 2022.

DeVault remained in contention Thursday by winning the last heat of the day, posting a two-wave score of 14.97 to advance to the quarterfinals. When surfing resumes, he will face Huscenot and Australians Ryan Callinan and Chris Zaffis.

In the women’s event, Maui’s Nora Liotta (4.27) bowed out in the round of 32 with a fourth-place finish in her heat.