It’s the second to last day of the event window and conditions continue to suck, to say the least. It’s cold and rainy with a meager mix of mainly wind swell. After holding off until noon, someone saw something worth giving a shot, and Heat 1 of Round 4 was in the water at 1 p.m.
Despite the lack of worthy swell and favorable conditions, the competition did not disappoint. The remaining elite surfers went to work and put down seven and eight-point rides on the choppy, righthand mess. Who were the standouts? Yep, you guessed it. Team Brazil. Namely, Gabriel Medina, who beat Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning and earned himself a first class ticket straight to Quarters.
Brazilian Storm Continues to Strike
Three out of the four wins were taken by Brazilian surfers in today’s three-man matchups. The fourth win went to Adrian Buchan, who stole the win from fellow Aussie and goofyfooter, Kai Otton, in the dying minutes of the first heat.
The surfer in the yellow jersey, Adriano de Souza, was the first of the three to move straight through to the Quarterfinals. Shutting down two goofyfooters for the win, de Souza’s biggest threat in the heat was fellow Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas, who only lost by 0.43. With Dantas getting that close while catching twice as many waves as de Souza, his Round 5 match up with Julian Wilson will be the heat to watch.
World No. 1, Adriano de Souza, continues his campaign of dominance. Photo: WSL
Gabriel Medina was victorious at the end of the most anticipated heat of the year, sending the other two World Champions to surf in Round 5. With 15 World Titles between them, the underdog of the three utilized his amazing backside repertoire to fight off Slater and Fanning in order to head straight to Quarters.
Wildcard Alejo Muniz was the third Brazilian and last surfer of the day to win a spot into the Quarterfinals. Continuing to impress and surprise the ‘CT crowd, Muniz looked so smooth in the choppy conditions. Relying on the fundamentals to get the job done, Muniz secured the lead early with a clean 8.17.
Rookie Keanu Asing surfed his heart out trying to take the win. Needing a 7.68 with four minutes left in the heat, Asing grabbed a 7.37 and Muniz stayed on top all the way to the end. The rookie will take on Fanning in Round 5, but comparing their performances today I wouldn’t count out Asing just yet.
