Griffin Colapinto of the United States surfs in Heat 2 of the Opening Round at the Oi Rio Pro on June 23, 2022 at Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Daniel Smorigo/World Surf League)
- Top Five Women Relegated to the Elimination Round
- Brazilian Contingent Dominates Opening Rounds
- More Available at WorldSurfLeague.com
The Oi Rio Pro Presented by Corona, Stop No. 8 on the World Surf League (WSL) 2022 Championship Tour (CT), kicked off today in four-to-six foot waves at Praia de Itaúna, Saquarema. The women’s and men’s Opening Rounds of competition were completed, seeing a shake-up with many top seeds relegated to the upcoming Elimination Rounds.
The WSL Tours and Competition team will reconvene tomorrow, Friday, June 24, at 7:15 a.m. (GMT-3) for a possible 7:35 a.m. start.
Top Five Women in Elimination Round
The top five women’s surfers were all relegated to the Elimination Round after a low-scoring Opening Round where wave selection and strategy was key. 2022 CT rookie Gabriela Bryan (HAW) delivered the first upset of the day when she defeated World No. 5 Lakey Peterson (USA) and World No. 3 Brisa Hennessy (CRI), sending the top seeds to the Elimination Round.
“I’m feeling super happy, first time I made it out of that heat since the Mid-season Cut, so it feels really good to bypass the Elimination Round. It’s my first time in Brazil and I’m loving it. The wave is really similar to Halewia at home, so I was just looking for a clean wave to do a turn and luckily I found a couple.” said Bryan.
Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) advanced to the Quarterfinals over wildcard Sol Aguirre (PER) and rankings leader Carissa Moore (HAW). For Moore, this Opening Round 1 loss into the Elimination Round is only her second of the season (first at the Surf City El Salvador Pro), out of eight events.
“I’m really happy to be here in Brazil, the vibes are always amazing and I feel like I’m at home. I’m really grateful that I got that first really good left. I had a general game plan, I saw a few lefts in the middle go unridden so I thought I would take a gamble and it worked out in my favour. From there I just tried to stay in control of the heat, but it was really difficult, so I’m just grateful it worked out,” said Weston-Webb.
Caroline Marks (USA) and Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) also advanced to the Quarterfinals, relegating top seeds Johanne Defay (FRA), Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) and Courtney Conlogue (USA) to the Elimination Round.
Home-field Advantage for Brazilian Contingent
The Brazilian contingent of Tatiana Weston-Webb, Italo Ferreira, Filipe Toledo and Yago Dora seemed right at home, managing to win their Opening Round heats and advance to the Round of 16. Searching for his fourth title in Rio de Janeiro, current rankings leader Toledo was happy to be surfing in front of his home crowd.
“It’s fun, it’s a wild ride, it’s a lot of emotions and we’ve got to control it. It’s really hard to do, but with my team it makes it a lot easier. I’m just enjoying time with my family, and trying to relax and have fun,” said Toledo.
Gabriel Medina (BRA) struggled in the tricky conditions, and despite staying very busy, could not catch up to Connor O’Leary (AUS). Medina was relegated to the Elimination Round behind Ethan Ewing (AUS).
One of the biggest surprise results was Michael Rodrigues (BRA) defeating Griffin Colapinto (USA) in the dying minutes of the heat. Colapinto was leading Rodrigues and Jake Marshall (USA), until the Brazilian wildcard banked two scoring rides, enough to edge out Colapinto by just 0.06 points.
“It’s such a hard heat to talk about, I don’t know what happened! I’ve been competing in some national events, but when I got the wildcard for this event, it’s was such good news. I’ve been working hard on my surfing, on my mind, on everything. I feel ready and making this first heat is amazing, I’m over the moon,” said Rodrigues.
Jack Robinson (AUS), Miguel Pupo (BRA), and Jackson Baker (AUS) managed to hang on to the top spot in their heats and skip the dreaded Elimination Round.
Oi Rio Pro Presented by Corona Women’s Opening Round 1 Results:
HEAT 1: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 11.07 DEF. Lakey Peterson (USA) 5.97, Brisa Hennessy (CRI) 5.74
HEAT 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 10.77 DEF. Sol Aguirre (PER) 9.90, Carissa Moore (HAW) 1.80
HEAT 3: Caroline Marks (USA) 10.67 DEF. Johanne Defay (FRA) 7.77, Courtney Conlogue (USA) 3.33
HEAT 4: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 8.24 DEF. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 7.67, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 6.70
Oi Rio Pro Presented by Corona Women’s Elimination Round Matchups:
HEAT 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Sol Aguirre (PER)
HEAT 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Isabella Nichols (AUS)
HEAT 3: Johanne Defay (FRA) vs. Courtney Conlogue (USA)
HEAT 4: Brisa Hennessy (CRI) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA)
Oi Rio Pro Presented by Corona Men’s Opening Round 1 Results:
HEAT 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 12.60 DEF. Matthew McGillivray (ZAF) 9.00, Joao Chianca (BRA) 6.30
HEAT 2: Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 12.33 DEF. Griffin Colapinto (USA) 12.27, Jake Marshall (USA) 7.24
HEAT 3: Jack Robinson (AUS) 13.67 DEF. Mateus Herdy (BRA) 8.50, Samuel Pupo (BRA) 7.50
HEAT 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 13.77 DEF. Nat Young (USA) 11.00, Miguel Tudela (PER) 9.23
HEAT 5: Yago Dora (BRA) 13.90 DEF. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.50, Kolohe Andino (USA) 9.83
HEAT 6: Connor O’Leary (AUS) 10.56 DEF. Ethan Ewing (AUS) 7.47, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 6.40
HEAT 7: Jackson Baker (AUS) 9.87 DEF. Callum Robson (AUS) 9.37, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 9.16
HEAT 8: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.83 DEF. Caio Ibelli (BRA) 8.90, Jadson Andre (BRA) 7.50
Oi Rio Pro Presented by Corona Men’s Elimination Round 2 Matchups:
HEAT 1: Griffin Colapinto (USA) vs. Miguel Tudela (PER)
HEAT 2: Caio Ibelli (BRA) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)
HEAT 3: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) vs. Mateus Herdy (BRA)
HEAT 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Nat Young (USA)
HEAT 5: Ethan Ewing (AUS) vs. Joao Chianca (BRA)
HEAT 6: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Samuel Pupo (BRA)
HEAT 7: Callum Robson (AUS) vs. Gabriel Medina (BRA)
HEAT 8: Matthew McGillivray (ZAF) vs. Jake Marshall (USA)
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
WATCH LIVE
The Oi Rio Pro Presented by Corona is now open and holds a competition window through June 30. Once called ON, the event will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com, WSL’s YouTube channel, and the free WSL app. Check local listings for coverage from the WSL’s broadcast partners. For fans watching in Brazil, coverage of the competition’s Quarterfinals and beyond will continue exclusively on WorldSurfLeague.com and SporTV.
COVID-19 Updates
The health and safety of our athletes, staff, and the local community are of the utmost importance and the WSL has been working closely with local authorities to put a robust set of procedures in place to keep everyone safe.
The Oi Rio Pro Presented by Corona is proudly supported by our partners Oi, Corona, City of Saquarema, Havaianas, Pura Vida, Red Bull, Oakley, Hydro Flask, True Surf, Expedia, Apple, BF Goodrich, Localiza, Enel, Oakberry, Australian Gold, 51 Ice, Banco do Brasil, BB Asset, and TikTok.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
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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