Four women and eight men can still earn spots alongside Australians Sally Fitzgibbons and Jacob Willcox and step up to the World Surf League's 2024 Championship Tour (CT).
The final round of the second-tier Challenger Series (CS) is scheduled to get under way at the Corona Saquarema Pro in Brazil on Saturday (Sunday AEDT), with Fitzgibbons and Willcox having already clinched their place at the elite level for next season.
In the women's competition, fellow Aussies India Robinson (second) and Isabella Nichols (fifth) - who joined Fitzgibbons in missing the cut midway through the 2023 CT season and being relegated to the CS - sit in the crucial top five heading into the weekend's action.
Bronte Macaulay (seventh) and Ellie Harrison (eighth) are also hovering close to the cut line.
A total of 10 men will advance with Willcox joining American surfer Cole Houshmand in already earning the right to fight for the world title in next season's CT.
Margaret River local Willcox, 26, is the only Australian inside the crucial top-10 heading into the weekend, with Newcastle's Jackson Baker well placed for a challenge in 11th in the overall series rankings.
Another Novocastrian Morgan Cibilic lies 14th, while Sunshine Coast surfer Reef Heazlewood and 20-year-old George Pittar, from Manly, are tied 17th.
Brazil's Mateus Herdy, currently holding the 10th and final men's qualifying place, knows he is in for a tough fight in the season's final round.
"There's nothing guaranteed for me yet, I'm 10th in the ranking and there's ... several very good surfers behind me that are very close in points," Herdy said.
AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION AT THE CORONA SAQUAREMA PRO
WOMEN
Round of 48: Nyxie Ryan; Round of 32: Sally Fitzgibbons, Ellie Harrison, Isabella Nichols, Sophie McCulloch, India Robinson, Bronte Macaulay, Zahli Kelly.
MEN
Round of 80: Marlon Harrison, Jordan Lawler, Kalani Ball, Jarvis Earle, Sheldon Simkus. Round of 64: Jacob Willcox, Dylan Moffat, Jackson Baker, Reef Heazlewood, Morgan Cibilic, Alister Reginato, Mikey McDonagh, George Pittar.
