Ryan Callinan put one foot back on the Championship Tour (CT) with an explosive display at the Sydney Surf Pro that finished just short of victory on Tuesday.
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Callinan, three days shy of his 30th birthday, cast aside an injury-marred start to the year and relegation from the CT to lock in a runner-up effort to Indonesian Rio Waida in the Challenger Series (CS) event at Manly.
After lighting up his earlier heats with power carves and huge front-side airs, Callinan started the same way in the final.
Like in his quarter and semi-finals, the Merewether goofy-footer dominated early. He scored a 7.67 from a gouging carve and an aerial finish then a 5.33 from a wrap, snap and a tail-slide end.
However, regular-footer Waida hit back with a two-turn combo on his backhand for a 5.87 before a vertical snap and two slashing carves for an 8.23 to lead 14.1 to 13 after 11 minutes of the 35-minute decider.
Thriving all day on the building lefts, Callinan got in three front-side turns for a 7.67 to retake the lead 15.3 to 14.1.
Callinan extended Waida's requirement to 7.47 at the halfway point with a crazy air rotation he pulled off despite the board pointing backwards on landing.
However, the turning point came when Callinan fell on a bigger aerial just before Waida smashed out three huge turns on one of the waves of the contest to earn a 9.5 inside the last 10 minutes.
It left Callinan chasing a 9.7. He fell twice in search of big airs and went down 17.73 to 15.7.
The 7800-point haul, though, lifted Callinan to sixth on the CS after just two stops on the eight-event tour, which gives the top 10 a place on the 2023 CT.
It leaves Callinan in a strong position to qualify for a fifth run on the CT. Clubmate Jackson Baker made this season's elite tour on the back of a runner-up effort last year in the CS contest in Portugal and a string of early exits at other events.
Callinan missed the first stop on this year's CT after breaking his wrist free surfing, and he struggled to come back, finishing 17th at the next four events to miss the mid-season cut. He then started on the CS with a first-round exit at Snapper Rocks.
However, he rediscovered his best form on the Manly lefts, consistently landing big airs in wins over Leo Fioravanti 16.34 to 9.23 in the semis and Imaikalani deVault 18.23 to 17.07 in the quarters on Tuesday.
"Just to make some heats in general, but to be close to home in a sense, being in Australia and feeling the support of the crowd and everything, it definitely makes it a bit more special," Callinan said.
"Just to make the final, you don't get many chances at this so it stings a little bit, but I'm stoked to be here and I had a special event.
"That's what I've been aiming for for a long time now," he said of his performance.
"It can get a bit messy, but the end goal was there and it all just clicked for me at this event, so hopefully I can continue it."
Merewether's Morgan Cibilic is ninth on the CS after two round of 16 finishes.
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