Special coverage presented by Vissla - Cover photo: ISA/Evans

Indonesian surfer Rio Waida has just made history in world surfing history after advancing through his round of 48 at the Ericeira Challenger, guaranteeing himself a place in the world surfing elite for 2023.

He became the first surfer from his country to qualify for the Championship Tour.

Waida had an impeccable campaign this year and qualified with two events still on the calendar; he won in Sydney and he won in Ballito and by making it to round 3 of Ericeira he has secured at least a 17 which gives him 1900 points and a total of 22650 which makes it mathematically impossible for 10 competitors to overtake him and displace him.

Rio Waida was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an Indonesian father and moved to Bali at the age of five. He had an outstanding youth career and in 2019, at the ISA World Championships in Miyazaki, he managed to qualify for Tokyo 2020, where he did not obtain an expressive result.