It was an interesting day at the Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal, to say the least. The two front runners in the race for the world title were eliminated early, moving the finish line in the race for the world title to Hawaii’s fabled North Shore.
In heat six of round three, Gabriel Medina faced off against Brett Simpson. With immense pressure on him, Medina showed some early nerves in his heat, and although the waves were far from ideal, Simpson was dominant early. His first wave came within seconds of the opening horn: a deep barrel that earned him a 7.0 and a boost in confidence. Medina was immediately on his back foot, but showed a glimmer of what he’s able to do. Halfway through the heat, he pulled out of a seemingly impossible barrel, and took the lead back.
Simpson, though, was not to be deterred. As the clock wound down, Medina found himself on the losing end of the battle again. With nearly three minutes left in the heat, he snagged one final wave. Thinking it would suffice, he called it quits and paddled in early. “I thought I had the score on my last wave,” Medina said. “That’s why I came in, but it wasn’t enough.” His thoughts quickly went to Slater, who was surfing the next heat. “I’m pretty sad with this result,” said the Brazilian, “but I got happier when Kelly lost.” The world number one made a beeline for the competitor’s area, leaving Simpson alone in the water with the win.
In the next heat, the second biggest upset of the day occured. World number two, Kelly Slater, took on Aritz Aranburu, who showed an early edge. Within ten minutes, Aritz had a dominant lead while the 11-time world champion struggled to find his feet in the difficult conditions. His first real score was nearly halfway through the heat, when he pulled into a lefthander that netted him enough of a score to begin to think about winning. A solid back up wave never materialized though, and Slater ended up missing his best opportunity this year to narrow the ratings gap.
So now the race for the world title moves to Pipeline. Medina’s passion for a title is backed by some of the most patriotic fans on the planet, and Kelly Slater has earned his stripes an impossible amount of times at Pipe – which is where the race should always end.
