Does god hate Yadin Nicol? I’m kidding of course, but after the way his luck with getting onto the world stage has gone in his career, I’m starting to wonder if the big guy upstairs has a thing for making the affable aussie weep.

Flash back to December 2008, Sunset Beach is the final event of the season, Yadin needs to finish fourth in order to qualify for 2009 season. The waves are scary-big, almost too big to hold the event. Cj wins the event and Yadin comes within one heat of qualifying, finishing at the top of the list of WQS surfers that didn’t make the cut.

In a coincidence that’s almost too much to be real, the exact same scenario would then play out for the following 2 seasons. Nicol would make a habit of coming as close to humanly possible to qualifying only to have his heart stomped on in the final moments of the year in Hawaii. One year the waves were huge, the next it was 2 foot kammieland, regardless the outcome would be the same for the bloke from West Oz. Also keep in mind that if the World tour hadn’t whittled the top 45 down to top 34 in ’09/’10, he would have made it for the past 2 seasons.

Flash back to last month, Yadin is having a stellar WQS season thus far, heading into the US Open of Surfing, a WQS Prime event. He needs a solid result to vault himself into a qualifying spot mid year. He surfs brilliantly stomping several on fire surfers including Kolohe Andino, to make it all the way to the final against none other than Kelly Slater. A win for Yadin would mean a cool $100 grand and a guaranteed spot on the tour with the 6500 points netted for a Prime win. Instead he has the shocker to shock all shockers and doesn’t catch a single wave in the final, despite great conditions and plenty of swell.

So despite the loss to Slater, Yadin still gains huge ground with the final finish, putting himself at 29th in the world, and looking great to make the tour after 3 years of being gut-wrenchingly close.

Yesterday Yadin broke his fibula while chasing a typhoon swell in Japan. He is out for 4-6 months. He will be forced to give up his spot on the tour should he qualify. You have to be feeling for the guy. (photo courtesy of hurley)

Is it better to have loved and lost or never loved at all? Don’t ask Yadin Nicol.