- Runner-up Gabriel Medina Retains Top Spot on WSL Rankings
- Carissa Moore Clinches Spot in WSL Final 5
- More Available at WorldSurfLeague.com
Johanne Defay (FRA) and Filipe Toledo (BRA) have won the Jeep Surf Ranch Pro presented by Adobe today, the sixth stop on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) and the final event ahead of surfing’s Olympic debut in Tokyo next month.
Defay defeated the reigning four-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore (HAW) by less than half a point in a hard-fought Final. The pair of Olympic qualifiers traded eight-point rides but it was Defay’s excellent 8.70 that sealed the win. The victory sees Defay move up from fifth to second place in the world and one step closer to securing her spot in the WSL Final 5. Defay’s result today is the fourth CT win of her career, her best result of the season and her second Final at the Ranch.
“I’m really impressed with the level of women surfing here at Surf Ranch,” said Defay. “Carissa, Sally, and Tati all did a great job. It’s the first time I do two finals in a row, and I’m very happy with my results.”
“Johanne was so ready to win,’ said Moore. “She is truly the queen of the pool, always knowing what to do. She has very good timing, and it was really good to see her winning today.”
Runner-up Moore remains World No. 1 and has officially clinched her spot in the WSL Final 5 where she will compete for the World Title at the Rip Curl WSL Finals in September.
“It feels great,” said Moore. “It was a big goal for me at the start of the year to make it to the top 5, to compete in the Rip Curl WSL Finals, so I’m really excited about it. It feels great to know I qualified, but there is still a lot of work to be done if I want to be the world champion.”
Toledo, the form surfer of the event, stormed to victory with a dominant performance in Lemoore. Toledo faced compatriot Gabriel Medina (BRA) in the all-Brazilian Final and a rematch of the past two event Finals. This time though, Toledo’s near perfect 9.67 followed by an excellent 8.27 were too much for the two-time WSL Champion. The win, Toledo’s second of the year, sees him move up to third place on the WSL rankings behind reigning WSL Champion Italo Ferreira (BRA), who finished the event in equal 9th, and runner-up Medina.
“This is my third CT final at the Surf Ranch, and the last two times Gabriel beat me,” said Toledo. “It feels really good to take the win this time. Gabriel has been putting on a show the entire year, and is already in the WSL Final 5 at Trestles so winning against him means a lot to me.”
Medina, who has already clinched his spot in the WSL Final 5, was undefeated at the Surf Ranch until today, having won the event in 2018 and 2019. Medina’s runner-up finish marks his fifth final out of six events so far this season.
“Surf Ranch contests are always fun because you have great waves,” saidMedina. “Here you have the pressure that makes everything more interesting. Felipe and I always have good battles here. He is my favorite surfer to watch.”
Four Olympic qualifiers went head-to-head in the women’s Semifinal with Moore and Defay advancing to the Final each with an excellent 8.50. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) finish the event in equal third place. Fitzgibbons, who started the event as world no. 2, after a win in Rottnest, moves down one place to third. Weston-Webb goes down from third to fourth, also with one win so far this season.
The men’s Semifinals saw eight surfers compete for a place in the Final.Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) missed out on a Final berth by less than one point and went home in equal 5th place, which moves him up three places to sixth on the WSL leaderboard. Igarashi will now reset and focus on his Olympic campaign.
Yago Dora (BRA) put down the highest single-wave score of the event, a near-perfect 9.73 in the Semifinals, but could not find the score on the right to back it up and finished the event in equal 5th place. Dora came into stop no. 6 ranked at 10th place in the world and today’s result is his best of the season, moving him up two places to eight in the world.
Jeep Surf Ranch Pro pres. By Adobe Men’s Final Results:
1. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 17.94
2. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 10.60
Jeep Surf Ranch Pro pres. By Adobe Women’s Final Results:
1. Johanne Defay (FRA) 16.63
2. Carissa Moore (HAW) 16.23
Jeep Surf Ranch Pro pres. By Adobe Men’s Semifinal Results:
1. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 17.74
2. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 18.10
3. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 16.93
4. Griffin Colapinto (USA) 16.50
5. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.47
6. Yago Dora (BRA) 13.06
7. Ethan Ewing (AUS) 12.77
8. Kelly Slater (USA) 11.53
Click here for full men’s results.
Jeep Surf Ranch Pro pres. By Adobe Women’s Semifinal Results:
1. Johanne Defay (FRA) 16.07
2. Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.90
3. Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 15.77
4. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 15.33
Click here for full women’s results.
WSL Women’s Championship Tour Leaderboard Top 5:
- Carissa Moore 43,855 pts
- Johanne Defay 34,635 pts
- Sally Fitzgibbons 34,270 pts
- Tatiana Weston-Webb 33,625 pts
- Stephanie Gilmore 29,390 pts
WSL Men’s Championship Tour Leaderboard Top 5:
- Gabriel Medina: 46,720 pts
- Italo Ferreira: 33,555 pts
- Filipe Toledo: 32,065 pts
- Morgan Cibilic: 24,610 pts
- Griffin Colapinto: 22,235 pts
The next stop on the 2021 CT is the Corona Open Mexico presented by Quiksilver, which holds a competitive window from August 10 – 20, 2021.
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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