“Conditions today, not ideal, but definitely everybody is having to play in the same sandbox,” said WSL commentator Strider Wasilewski, right before interviewing Julian Wilson.
It is the best way to describe the second day of competition. Although the surf had a few small wedges and the wind continued to blow offshore, for a place called Supertubos, it was definitely not ideal.
World number two Adriano de Souza wasn’t going to let small waves affect his chances at the title and opened the morning with a confident win over Tiago Pires, who was the first wildcard defeated.
The second heat had a restart due to the lack of surf, but once action started, Owen Wright took the early lead over wildcard Caio Ibelli.
About 10 minutes into the heat, Wright and Ibelli exchanged waves. First up was Wright on his backhand. After he forced a punt and landed high on the wave, then barely dropped back into another turn to finish, he was given a 5.00.
Ibelli saw what Wright did, and took off to better it. Gliding through a powerful bottom turn on his forehand, Ibelli headed to the air and threw a punt of his own, adding a double grab and landing with all his speed still behind him ready for another three maneuvers. Much higher and cleaner, Ibelli was rewarded with a 7.00 and took the lead.
Wright fought hard, replacing the 5.00 with a 5.60 and then a 6.77 with two backside air reverses. But, Ibelli had already sealed the deal with a 6.33 back-up score. Wright’s chances at a World Title are no more.
Julian Wilson surfed in the next heat and had a strong lead early. With two six-point rides, he had Mason Ho combo’d at the halfway mark. But Ho found the only barrel of the day, earning a 6.53 and jumping back into the heat.
With less than five minutes on the clock, Ho found a shoulder-high right. From the minute he stood up, there was no question he was looking for a ramp. When he found it, he threw a huge air reverse with ease. Landing on the face he rode to a close and earned a 7.40. The score was announced with two minutes to go and that was it for world number four Julian Wilson.
The Rookie of the Year Race also had a huge shift from the heats of day two. The ROTY points leader Italo Ferreira earned his spot in round three with a win over Tomas Hermes. Second in points, Wiggolly Dantas was not as fortunate, losing to Ricardo Christie.
Although Christie has been turning heads with high heat scores all year, he has run into some tough luck and has only seen his way out of round two once before. This furthers the gap and leaves Dantas needing a win at Pipe to even come close.
In the last heat of the day, John Florence surfed a strategic heat, not taking any chances against Glen Hall. Florence posted two seven-point rides in the first half the heat with turn after turn. Once he had the two sevens, he was ready to let loose. Standing up on a wave around the 15 minute mark, he snapped off the top and then hucked a huge tail-high air reverse, earning an 8.43 and ending the day on a high note.
