A knee injury cost Morgan Cibilic a chance to compete for a spot at the Portugal Pro but the boom Merewether surfer was confident the setback would not derail his shot at qualifying for the 2020 championship tour.
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Cibilic, who turns 20 on Friday, was due to come home after a round-of-16 performance at the 10,000-point Ericeira Pro in Portugal last month moved him to equal 16th on the qualifying series.
However, Cibilic was invited to stay in Portugal and compete at trials for a start in the 10th stop on the CT, which is due to begin on Wednesday night (AEDT).
Cibilic, though, was injured in preparation for the trials when he landed awkwardly after an aerial manoeuvre.
He posted a video of the incident on his Instagram account on Monday and wrote: "The wave that made my knee go pop, will be out for the Portugal CT trials, but should be a quick recovery for Hawaii".
Cibilic is on the verge of a stunning rise to the top tour in just his second full season on the QS.
He sits only four spots and 650 points outside the cutline for the 2020 CT with two prime QS events remaining.
The top 10 on the QS, outside of those already qualified through the CT top 22, earn their ticket onto the World Surf League's elite tour.
The season-ending Hawaiian leg on the QS starts with the 3000-point Vans Pro at Sunset Beach from October 28 but the all-important 10,000-points events are set down for November 13-24 and November 25 to December 7.
Meanwhile, clubmate Ryan Callinan sits equal 11th on the CT heading into the penultimate event. He takes on Central Coast's Wade Carmichael and Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz in heat 11 of the seeding round.
