Four years ago the ASP announced that they would be doing away with the two-tiered ranking system and replacing it with the confusing (at the time) one world ranking system. Over the course of the past few seasons it became clear that the one world ranking system wasn’t working out – except for the veterans on the Dream Tour who managed to prolong their careers by counting their WCT results towards their final qualifying tallies at the end of the season.

Part of the Dream Tour class of ’14

After consecutive seasons with only four new surfers making it to the elite Dream Tour each year the format has been scrapped. It’s a case of back to the drawing board for the ASP as they yesterday announced the re-implementation of the two-tiered system in the hopes of seeing more fresh faces competing on the WCT each new season.

The new ASP Tour Commissioner, former tour veteran Kieren Perrow, had the following to say when announcing the changes back to the old system: “The tweaks and alterations that have been made to the technical aspects of the sport over the past several years have been done so with one guiding principle – create a fair and balanced platform for the world’s best surfing to be rewarded. The combined ranking served a purpose throughout its time on tour, but the Commissioner’s Office believes that a separated ranking is the best path forward.”

Former Pipe Master, now ASP Tour commissioner – Kieren Perrow.

The ASP will, however, still keep the Dream Tour as the Top 34 surfers in the world. Before the one world ranking system was first implemented the WCT was contested by the Top 44, and was subsequently cut down to the Top 34 with the announcement of the new system.

The 2015 ASP Top 34 will be made up of the following qualifiers:

– Top 22 finishers on the 2014 ASP WCT rankings (best 9 of 11 WCT results)
– Top 10 finishers on the 2014 ASP QS rankings (best 5 of all QS results)
– Two ASP Wildcards

This will mean that surfers competing on the Dream Tour and not sitting within the Top 22 will now have to compete in a minimum of five WQS events in the hopes of re-qualifying for the following season’s tour. The changes should also open the door slightly wider for WQS surfers looking to make it onto the big stage.

Click here for the ASP’s official announcement.