Brazil’s Filipe Toledo on Tuesday won the Oi Rio Pro for the fourth time, scoring a perfect 10 in the final against young compatriot Samuel Pupo to cement his spot at the top of the world championship tour ratings.
Toledo has made five of the eight man-on-man championship tour finals this year and never looked likely to miss out at the event he has commanded over the past few years.
His razor-sharp turns and unmatched ability to land progressive aerial maneuvers made him a favorite with the big home crowd, who roared in approval when he made a big full rotation air early in the final.
Photo: AFP
Brazilians dominated the men’s side of the contest at Saquarema, a beach town about 100km east of Rio de Janeiro, taking all four semi-final berths for the first time in a World Surf League Championship Tour event.
Hawaii’s reigning world and Olympic champion Carissa Moore also almost notched up a perfect wave against France’s Johanne Defay, leaving it until the last minute in their final.
Trailing on the scoreboard with the clock winding down, Moore took off and blasted two big backside turns on a solid overhead wave, scoring a 9.5 out of 10 to snatch the win.
“I think this has to be one of my favorite wins of my whole career, and one of the most meaningful,” the five-time world champion said. “Coming up against my really good friend Johanne Defay, I respect her so much, she got me at [the previous event in] G-Land, and I really feel like she’s the one to beat this year.”
The tour heads next to the long right-hand point break of Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, before the huge challenging barrels of Tahiti’s Teahupo’o for the final event of the regular season.
Moore and Toledo have now guaranteed one of five spots for the end-of-season, one-day finals event to be held at Lower Trestles in southern California in September.
Toledo lives just up the road, and was narrowly beaten by countryman Gabriel Medina at the final there last year, making him a favorite to win his first world title this year.
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