Filipe Toledo heads into the World Surf League (WSL) Finals as favorite to win what would be a popular first world title and one that would extend the dominance of the “Brazilian Storm” in men’s surfing.
Toledo won two legs of the 10-stop WSL Championship Tour this year, qualifying first for the second edition of the winner-takes-all Finals for the top five surfers on the circuit.
The one-day event is to be held in the best conditions between tomorrow and Friday next week at Lower Trestles, a cobblestone point break in southern California that produces high-performance waves that seldom get much above head height.
Photo: AFP
That is right in the sweet spot for 27-year-old Toledo, originally from Ubatuba near Sao Paulo, but now living close to the Finals venue.
“He is without a doubt the best small wave surfer we’ve ever seen ... and Lowers — there isn’t a wave that suits someone better than it suits him,” said Barton Lynch, the 1988 world champion.
While Toledo’s capabilities in the marquee heavy water locations of Pipeline and Teahupo’o have sometimes drawn criticism, his aerial wizardry, razor-sharp turns and camaraderie with his peers has made him a fan favorite.
Toledo is a leading figure in a tight-knit pack known as the Brazilian Storm, who have between them won all but two of the men’s world titles since 2014, as well as taking the first men’s Olympic gold medal through Italo Ferreira.
The live-wire Ferreira is likely to be a threat in the Finals after qualifying in fourth seed, but two other top contenders — Hawaii’s two-time champion John Florence and Brazil’s reining world champ Gabriel Medina — missed much of the tour.
That has opened up opportunities for Australians Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing, as well as Japan’s Olympic silver medalist Kanoa Igarashi in the race for the title.
Carissa Moore, the reigning women’s Olympic champion, will be looking to add to her five world titles and is also a hot favorite, having won the title last year in the same format at the same venue.
“Her surfing is just on incredible levels of power, flow, speed — those judging criteria,” Lynch said of the 30-year-old Hawaiian.
“She can be vulnerable under pressure for sure, but that best-of-three format helps her,” he said.
Top seeds progress directly to a best-of-three heat final, with the other four seeds going head-to-head for a chance to join them in the title decider.
Australia’s seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore is to take on Brisa Hennessy from Costa Rica in the first battle, with the winner to face Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb.
France’s Johanne Defay is the second seed after her best year on tour, but the fiercely competitive Weston-Webb poses perhaps the greatest threat to Moore after a narrow loss in last year’s final.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS