Two heats at the Rip Curl Pro, Portugal

Only two heats ran at the Rip Curl Pro, Portugal today before event organisers pulled the pin due to small waves. Knee-to-waist high lumps were torn apart by only four men, making up just two heats of round three. The man who won the first heat was Hawaiian John Florence. “It wasn’t too bad, just a couple cuts, a couple stitches on my head but it’s all good,” said John of a head knock he scooped at a reef near Peniche on a lay day. “I’ve never hit the bottom that hard on a wave and it was pretty scary at first, but it heals pretty fast I was glad I didn’t have to surf a heat yesterday. Conditions today are tough but there were a few little waves. It’s hard to surf a heat out there and I feel for Travis, but sometimes that happens. Hope the waves get better.”

When he surfs again in round four, John will face Gabriel Medina (as well as one other very unlucky man). Despite some very good full-rote attempts from Brett Simpson, heat two was all about Gabriel, who’s kinda amazing in small waves. “That was a tough heat against Brett,” said the Brazilian. “He surfed so well and I really thought he was going to get the scores on this last wave but he didn’t make that last air so I’m stoked to make this one. That’s an important round for me, I really want to get a good result over here.”

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: John John Florence (HAW) 10.17 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 7.70
Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.66 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 7.60

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 7: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 8: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 9: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)