Current Jeep Ratings Leader, Adriano de Souza, will be looking to further his lead in front of his hometown crowd. Photo: WSL
Monday May 11th is opening day of the 12-day waiting period for the 2015 Oi Rio Pro. Barra da Tijuca will take a direct hit, as the Brazilian Storm triumphantly returns home to compete in front of their home crowd. Brazil’s voraciously hungry surf fans have heaps to applaud, as Brazil currently celebrates the current World Champ, Gabriel Medina, the current Jeep Ratings Leader, Adriano de Souza, and arguably the most exciting and technically progressive surfer currently on the Championship Tour, Filipe Toledo.
Brazilian surfers on the ‘CT have significantly and consistently raised the bar, showing every indication that they will continue to reign as the current undisputed surfing world power. Furthermore, if the rest of the World Championship Tour does not elevate their performance levels, Brazil will dominate professional competitive surfing at an unprecedented level.
Men’s defending event champ, Michel Bourez, will not compete at the 2015 Oi Rio Pro due to a hand and back injury sustained while freesurfing in Teahupo’o.
The women’s defending event champion, Sally Fitzgibbons, currently ranked number 5 on the ‘CT, hopes to repeat as the event champion and put herself closer in contention for the world title. Current Jeep Ratings Leaders, Adriano de Souza and Carissa Moore, have created enormous leads after the first three events of this year, and both will be poised to continue their blistering title runs.
No event during the 2015 Samsung Galaxy World Surf League Championship Tour season requires more adjustments to a fantasy surf team than the Rio event, as the venue normally produces conditions that tend to act as an equalizer, particularly for the men’s field of 36.
All the Live and On Demand action at the 2015 Oi Rio Pro can be viewed on the WSL website.
