Special coverage presented by Surf City El Salvador 

It will be interesting to see the continent's best returning to competition after a nine-month hiatus without tournaments. It is something that has never happened in history and therefore it is difficult to predict whether something strange will happen.

What if this reset button turns the tables and surprises reign? Nobody says this can't happen.

We will have to see how they return to competitions; there were many of them who spent more than 100 days without touching salt water, there were others who not so much but who were surely affected by the measures brought about by the quarantine.

From a list of entrants that leaves little doubt that this is the most competitive ALAS in history, we have selected 10 that follow here:

Jhony Corzo

He grew up surfing at La Punta de Zicatela, waves similar to those at La Bocana. He was an ISA world champion, which makes it clear that he knows how to ride and has the nerve to win important championships. That surgical backside attack can put him on the podium; he needs to get two waves in which he combines that explosion that begins with those bottom turns grabbing the edge.

Noah Mare McGonagle

He was raised on the long, perfect lefts of Pavones. He has one of the best backside attacks in the world and that's why he won last year at La Bocana. When he finds that clean wall and manages to attack it with his power and radicalism, he convinces the judges that the title is his. If he finds the waves and stays calm, he has a hand in the title.

He is another ISA World Champion who will be at the championship and who won this title thanks to his powerful backside.

Lucca Messinas

He was raised on the perfect lefts of Mancora. He is another of the best backside attackers on the planet who will be at the event, another who was an ISA medalist on more than one occasion.

His fast, agile and radical surfing in both small and medium waves gives him a magnitude of points, series after series, that always ensures him a foot in the next series. It is difficult to see a series in which Lucca scores less than 10 combined points.

Bryan Perez

The local star of the moment has just been crowned national champion, last year he placed second, won the Pan American bronze and is showing that the pressure of having his eyes up works in his favor and not against him.

He has practiced a lot on lefts because he knows that is what he needs the most, he even discovered a couple of lefts in his country where right-handers dominate. In addition to attacking them, he added some modern movements in those waves.

If he holds out, he can win.

Alonso Correa

He is the highest ranked of those present because he is the owner of a tenacity and a competitive passion of very high levels. This is combined, of course, with a radical, explosive technical surfing.  and with judgment. Alonso flows from maneuver to maneuver and suddenly surprises with an aerial or a more radical attack. He has had more expressive results on the right than on the left (Sunset and Ericeira, for example). But: 1: La Bocana has rights and 2: His surfing on the left is also a weapon to fear.

Carlos Muñoz

The Hispanic-American male surfer who has come closest to qualifying for the first division of the world tour. Cali's surfing is not lacking in anything, its backside is good, its frontside is good, it is good in the tubes and it is good in heavy waves.

He is certainly eager to compete and hungry to win. He is always the favorite.

Sebastian Williams

He comes from competing in the Stab High in Indonesia where he surprised everyone with the level of his surfing. He has an incredible natural talent, he is able to complete any maneuver and in the skate park that is La Bocana he has space to show off.

If he focuses on the championship, he can win it.

Leilani McGonagle

If there is one type of wave that Leilani excels at, it is a left pointbreak. Better if it is in warm water like her home in Pavones. She knows how to flow from move to move, exploding in each maneuver and doing one after the other.

He won points in Chile and Barbados, for example. La Bocana is a perfect track for him to return to the top of the podium.

Anali Gomez

Raised on the consistent points of her home in Punta Hermosa, Peru, Analí makes the most powerful moves on the ALAS tour. If the court gives her space, she hits the shots and the judges pay her. That's how she was ISA world champion, that's how she won last year's ALAS and that's how she proved that she is one of the best in the world.

The rising sea for the final days of the event also makes her a favourite. She has to find the waves and their consistency.

Rachel Presti

German and Costa Rican, she was world junior champion and won the first stage of the Salvadoran tour a little over a month ago. She is well acclimatized to these waves and to the trends of world surfing.

He combines traditional surfing with modern maneuvers, he has won championships at the top and knows how to win them.

A party can be had in La Bocana.

And a few were left out of this list, like Gato Chila and Mimi Barona, like Leon Glatzer, Noel de la Torre, Malakai Martinez, Mauro Diaz, Oli Camarena, Joaquin del Castillo, Manuel Selman... There is talent to go up in ALAS of El Salvador!