The waves were firing for the fourth and fifth rounds of the Quiksilver Pro, and with perfect conditions come perfect surfing.
Medina earned his way into the Quarterfinals by dominating his Round 4 heat and earning a 10-point ride, but that was only the top of a very long list of highlights from the fourth day.
The first two heats of the day set the bar quite high with Julian Wilson and Mick Fanning taking their respective heat wins with their two wave totals above 16.00, finding two waves in the excellent range.
Adriano de Souza must have been frothing from the competitor’s area because he started the third heat with a bang. Pumping from behind the section to start, de Souza bottom turned into a tight carve in the pocket and positioned himself perfectly to link together three more turns, fighting off the backwash on the inside and finishing on his feet. The judges loved it, rewarding him with a 9.57.
Surfing in his best form all year, De Souza backed that up with to more 8-point rides, keeping an 8.93 and advancing straight into the Quarterfinals.
Medina saw that and thought he could do better. Either that, or somehow forgot to tell him it was a non-elimination heat. The World Champ went out there and commanded the line up from the very beginning.
Shortly after starting the heat with a solid 6.83, Medina was eyeing another racing right hander. Timing it perfectly, he hit the lip quickly to take the high line on the wall then he saw what he was looking for, a ramp section. Boosting high into the sky, Medina threw a massive full rotation backside air reverse and stomped it. Throwing his arms high in excitement with the claim, the judges weren’t hesitant to throw him the 10 points he deserved.
But he wasn’t done yet. In the back half of the heat, Owen Wright and Matt Wilkinson both put up their best fights, but each time they were on a wave, Medina was on one better. He posted a 9.40 and then erased that and put up a 9.83. In the end he left Wright and Wilkinson combo’d, although each had a high eight in their scores.
In the Round 5 match-ups, the Rookie Italo Ferreira continued to impress, taking out fellow Brazilian Jadson Andre with two eight point rides.
Then, Kolohe Andino and Bede Durbidge faced off, both surfing with confidence from their dominating performance in the first few days. Andino wasn’t holding anything back looking for another huge air again and again. But, unfortunately his flaws coupled with Durbidge’s flawless power surfing led to his Round 5 exit.
Durbidge almost forced Andino into his all-or-nothing strategy after posting a 9.33 with two monster carves and then backed it up with another solid score 8.97.
Jeremy Flores was hunting down his best score at his home ‘CT event, never making it into the Quarterfinals in France before. And after facing Owen Wright’s backhand power hacks, he will have to settle for another equal ninth and look to better it next year.
Wright secured his win in the latter half of the heat when he threw three huge turns for a 9.60.
John John Florence took the last spot in the Quarterfinals, finishing Round 5 with a solid 8.33 air reverse and the win over Matt Wilkinson.
