- Gabriel Medina Clinches Place in WSL Final 5
- Filipe Toledo Holds Top Spot, Johanne Defay Claims Top of Leaderboard
- More Available at WorldSurfLeague.com
The Jeep Surf Ranch Pro presented by Adobe, the sixth stop of the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), witnessed its first eliminations on day two with Johanne Defay (FRA) and Filipe Toledo (BRA) topping the women’s and men’s leaderboards.
Competition sizzled through the remaining heats in the Qualifying Round and the first of the Bonus Runs, an additional two waves awarded to the top 12 ranked women and 24 ranked men and one last chance to secure a place in the Semifinals.
A dominant performance from Johanne Defay (FRA), the 2019 event runner-up, saw her finish the day in first place on the event leaderboard. The Olympic qualifier and current World No. 5 earned an 8.50 and an 8.13 and moves one step closer to her place in the Semifinals, which will be decided after the women’s Bonus Run.
“It feels good to get some good scores,” said Defay. “There was no wind at that moment, so the wave was really good,” said Defay. “I’m excited for tomorrow. I want to be able to show a bit more in the next round.
The four-time reigning WSL Champion Carissa Moore (HAW) built her scoreline and after her second run of the Qualifying Rounds and concluded the day in second place on the event leaderboard.
“It’s been a really fun season so far,” said Moore. “People tell me I have a big lead, but actually it’s not that big of a lead if you do the throwaways. I still have work to do, I need to keep the foot on the gas and keep giving my best.
Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) sit in third and fourth place respectively with Caroline Marks (USA) just below the Semifinals cut line in fifth place. The top six will look to improve their scores when they start Day 3 with a Bonus Run.
Surfers sitting below the Top 12 cutline for women at the end of day were eliminated from competition, including Amuro Tsuzuki (JPN) and Brisa Hennessy (CRI) who will now refocus on surfing’s Olympic debut in Tokyo next month.
Two-time WSL Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) became the first surfer to clinch their spot in the WSL Final 5 and will officially be competing for the World Title at the Rip Curl WSL Finals in September.
“It feels amazing! I feel blessed to have put in some good performances in Australia and now here,” said Medina. “This year’s been an amazing journey, I’m enjoying every moment of it, and I’m so ready for the finals. It was my goal this year, so I’m glad I got it. See you soon, Trestles!”
With a combined score of 17.00 (out of a possible 20), Medina finished Day 2 in second place on the event leaderboard, behind fellow Brazilian Filipe Toledo, who held onto the top spot with an excellent 8.93 in his second run.
“I’ve won here at Surf Ranch before, so I know how the waves are here,” said Medina. “My boards are really good right now, which gives me a lot of confidence. I’m taking it wave by wave, and I’m ready to put in a good show tomorrow.”
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), Yago Dora (BRA) and Owen Wright (AUS) held onto their place in the Top 8 heading into the final day of competition alongside Brazilian World Champions Adriano de Souza (BRA).
The Bonus Run saw Ethan Ewing (AUS) improve on his score and jump up into the Top 8, pushing 11x World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) into 10th place, just below the Semifinals cutline.
“I feel pretty good,” said Ewing. “It feels amazing to finish a left because I’ve been really struggling with that, it’s really hard. Hopefully I can stay in that Top 8, it sounds really good to be in the finals day.”
On the final two waves of the day Griffin Colapinto (USA) served up a pair of sevens to move up into fourth place on the event leaderboard, displacing reigning WSL Champion Italo Ferreira (BRA).
“I love the pressure situations and there’s so many thoughts going through your head, which you’re trying to decipher,” said Colapinto. “Getting into the Final 5 goes through my head every day, people are lying if they say it doesn’t. It’s just how you handle it and it’s a fun game.”
International Surfing Day
Men’s Surf Ranch Pro presented by Adobe Leaderboard Top 8:
1 – Filipe Toledo (BRA) 17.80
2 – Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.00
3 – Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 15.33
4 – Ethan Ewing (AUS) 14.54
5 – Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14.53
6 – Yago Dora (BRA) 14.37
7 – Owen Wright (AUS) 14.27
8 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.80
Click here for full leaderboard.
Women’s Surf Ranch Pro presented by Adobe Leaderboard Top 4:
1 – Johanne Defay (FRA) 16.63
2 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.17
3 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.93
4 – Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 14.83
Click here for full leaderboard.
The Jeep Surf Ranch Pro will be broadcast live on WorldSurfLeague.com from June 18 – 20 2021. Check local listings for coverage from the WSL’s broadcast partners.
COVID-19 Updates
The health and safety of our athletes, staff and the local community are a top priority for the WSL and there are a robust set of procedures in place to keep everyone safe including testing for athletes and essential staff, and closing the event to general admission fans.
About the WSL
Established in 1976, the World Surf League (WSL) is the home of the world’s best surfing.
A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world’s largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.
The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties.
Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com.
WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.
The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
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