“It takes some serious mental fortitude to stick it through that long,” says Deputy WSL Commissioner Travis Logie of rookie Willian “Panda” Cardoso. “And you have to be a little bit insane to keep telling yourself you can do it,” he adds with a laugh.
According to fellow Brazilian Caio Ibelli, the 32-year-0ld from Santa Catarina has been grinding it out on the World Qualifying Series in hopes of making the Championship Tour for nearly 12 years. As fate would have it, Cardoso told his friends and family that if he didn’t make the CT at the end of the 2017 season, he’d throw in the towel. Well, Panda qualified and after his debut CT as a bonafide competitor – not simply a wildcard – the man’s sitting pretty at equal 13th.
Oh, and that nickname? It turns out Cardoso was in France watching Kung Fu Panda with the guys. In the middle of the night he got up to chow on some food, someone called him “Panda” and the nickname stuck.
