And Then There Were Four Or Gabriel Medina Wins Portugal
Who will stand tallest at Pipe?
As the quarterfinals came to a close, a Title-hungry John John ousted from the table by an in-form Kolohe Andino, the crowd began to quietly slip away, anything short of a World Championship crowning not worth the time in the sand.
But perhaps they were all missing the whole point of all this, failing to take into account the new thread being drawn out of this all-too-scripted narrative, as both Julian Wilson and Gabriel Medina took full advantage of John's and Jordy's shortcomings.
While Gabby and Jules' shorepound grovel fest final made for a meager final offering, Gabby's doggy-door exit out of a chunky, imperfect tunnel got the crowd's blood flowing just enough to stay awake for Julian and his late five-wave rally, the two trading scrappy pits, and Gabby flairing out frontside airs.
While everyone had already swallowed the easy John John pill, with Gabby's win, the rest of the season will be wildly more interesting.
With all eyes on Hawaii, the title comes down to a four-horse race featuring a few of the tour's most prized ponies. John's still holding the yellow jerz, Jordy, Gabby, and Jules can almost touch it, still wet with disappointment, just... right... there.
While we're still tabulating the scenarios, we know Gabby and Jules' proximity to the crown should make John feel pretty nervous, and though Jordy surely enjoyed a moment of relief this AM, with John's housecleaning at Brother's hands, the fight ahead of him will be very uphill.
MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Final Results:
1 - Gabriel Medina 13.26
2 - Julian Wilson 10.94
MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Julian Wilson 16.83 def. Kolohe Andino 14.56
SF 2: Gabriel Medina 11.10 def. Kanoa Igarashi 6.24
MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Quarterfinal Match-Ups:
QF 1: Julian Wilson 7.50 def. Sebastian Zietz 7.40
QF 2: Kolohe Andino 14.00 def. John John Florence 3.80
QF 3: Kanoa Igarashi 12.50 def. Miguel Pupo 8.44
QF 4: Gabriel Medina 11.33 def. Mick Fanning 3.17
WSL Jeep Leaderboard Top 5 (after MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal):
1 - John John Florence 53,350 pts
2 - Gabriel Medina 50,250 pts
3 - Jordy Smith 47,600 pts
4 - Julian Wilson 45,200 pts
5 - Owen Wright 39,850 pts
