The world’s best surfers have arrived in the Southwest of France for the second-to-last stop on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy World Surf League Championship Tour, the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro France. The competitive runs from October 4 – 15, and on the women’s side, it’s a guaranteed shootout for the World Title.

Tyler Wright (AUS) has come into the event as the Jeep Rankings Leader and, as the winner of the event back in 2015, is not only ready to fight for her maiden World Title, but also to defend her territory as reigning event champion.

So far this season she’s managed to lock down four CT victories, and if she wins in France, it’ll mean she takes it all – the 2016 WSL World Title. If that happens, the women will still go to their final event, Maui, but the grand prize will already be taken.

Tyler is only able to win her first Title in the following scenarios:

·  If she wins the event
·  If she finishes 2nd and Courtney Conlogue (USA) finishes no higher than 3rd
·  If she finishes 3rd and Courtney finishes no higher than 2nd
·  If she finishes 5th and Courtney finishes no higher than 3rd
·  If she finishes 9th and Courtney finishes no higher than 5th
·  If she finishes 13th and Courtney finishes no higher than 13th

Tyler’s opening heat (Round 1, Heat 3) is against South African goofy-footer Bianca Buitendag (RSA) and 2016 WSL Rookie, Chelsea Tuach (BRB). If she comes first she will automatically be catapulted to Round 3, forcing Courtney to put on a show and get some results if she wants to take the race to Hawaii.

Ms Conlogue is the current World Number 2, trailing only 5,250 points behind Tyler. She has consistently challenged Tyler throughout the season, and because of her unswerving results, has another opportunity to block the Australian’s World Title win in France. Courtney’s Round 1 heat will be against Rip Curl’s Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) and event wildcard Bronte Macaulay (AUS).

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), six-time WSL Women’s Champion, will return to competition after an absence from the Cascais Women’s Pro due to illness. Despite her withdrawal from Portugal, the Australian currently sits sixth on the Jeep Leaderboard after a stunning runner-up finish at the Swatch Women’s Pro – but, due to Tyler’s outstanding performances and Courtney’s ambition and tenacity throughout the year, a seventh World Title remains far from her reach.

Event organizers will convene at 8am local time tomorrow morning to assess conditions and make the first call.

Surfline, official forecasters for the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro France, are calling for:

An active North Atlantic looks to provide fun to potentially good-size well for the first few to several days of the waiting period. Wind forecasts have also been looking decent and watching these closely. The Quiksilver and Roxy Pro France will be webcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com as well as the WSL app.

The event is also being carried by the WSL's LIVE broadcast partners Fox Sports Australia, CBS Sports in the United States, ESPN Brasil, Globosat in Brazil, Edgesport, Sky NZ, Sport TV in Portugal, Canal + Deportes in Spain, Channel Nine, MCS France, Starhub in Singapore, and Oceanic Time Warner Cable 250 & 1250 in Hawaii.

Quiksilver Pro France Round 1 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Nat Young (USA), Matt Banting (AUS)
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA), Kanoa Igarashi (USA), Keanu Asing (HAW)
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Jadson Andre (BRA), Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Miguel Pupo (BRA), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Dusty Payne (HAW), Ryan Callinan (AUS)
Heat 6: John John Florence (HAW), Conner Coffin (USA), Joan Duru (FRA)
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Stuart Kennedy (AUS), Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Heat 8: Italo Ferreira (BRA), Wiggolly Dantas (BRA), Alex Ribeiro (BRA)
Heat 9: Julian Wilson (AUS), Caio Ibelli (BRA), Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 10: Kolohe Andino (USA), Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Jack Freestone (AUS)
Heat 11: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Josh Kerr (AUS), Davey Cathels (AUS)
Heat 12: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Michel Bourez (PYF), Adam Melling (AUS)

Roxy Pro France Round 1 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Johanne Defay (FRA), Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Keely Andrew (AUS)
Heat 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW), Sage Erickson (AUS), Lakey Peterson (AUS)
Heat 3: Tyler Wright (AUS), Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Chelsea Tuach (BRB)
Heat 4: Courtney Conlogue (USA), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS), Bronte Macaulay (AUS)
Heat 5: Carissa Moore (HAW), Laura Enever (AUS), Alessa Quizon (HAW)
Heat 6: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Malia Manuel (HAW), Coco Ho (HAW)(PRT) in the opening round of competition in Caiscais.