With many of the usual suspects relegated to the sidelines, upstarts Barron Mamiya and Brissa Hennessy nabbed huge wins at the Hurley Pro Sunset yesterday in mostly clean, rippable surf. Hennessy became the first Costa Rican to win a Championship Tour event and Mamiya started to fulfill a promise of greatness since his highly touted Snapt4 performance.
“I have no words, I’ve dreamed about this moment but I never thought it was possible,” Hennessy said on the WSL broadcast after the Final. “To all those people that supported me, I did it.”
Mamiya continues his incredible dream run as an injury replacement – a stellar performance at Pipeline, following it up with his first CT win and now, the yellow leader’s jersey. “I can’t believe it, I literally can’t believe it. I thought Pipe was the event I was going to do good in,” said hometown favorite Mamiya.
Mamiya and Hennessy both took down hot-handed surfers in the finals. Mamiya knocked out Kanoa Igarashi, who surfed a fearless game out at Sunset the whole event. Hennessy meanwhile beat a hungry Malia Manuel who was knocked off tour in Mexico last year but after a stellar showing at both Pipe and Sunset, is now ranked second in the world.
Next stop for the World Surf League: Peniche, Portugal and Supertubos.
