Day four at the Rip Curl Pro, Portugal

A storm’s been brewing in Portugal and it’s not Brazilian… shit maybe it is; Filipe, Gabs and Italo are still in the running. Today’s action had to be moved north of Supertubos to the backup site. Which consisted of a junky looking right hand wedge that on occasion offered up a few workable sections and grinding barrels. It was a short day for the event, only four heats completed. After all the early exits from the Rip Curl Portugal, Pro if Gabs wins he will be the new Jeep leader. And, a second place finish will stick him right behind Adriano and Mick as we head into the Pipe Masters.

The soon to be rookie of the year, Italo Ferreira beat Mr Medina in the non-elimination round four. Italo put up a nine with a huge air drop floater over a wonky section, then finished off the end section with a hard backhand carve. Mr Ferreira’s confidence and performance in a wide variety of waves continues to be a subject of impression. “I’m super stoked to make this heat and with good scores,” Italo told the WSL. “I changed my board today because the waves are bigger and I needed more drive. I’m feeling so good right now, and I’ll focus on the next heat, it’s great to be in the quarters.”

Kolohe and Joel found a few waves for scores. Joel connected some turns for a seven point ride. The heat was close yet unexciting. Six waves were caught between the two. In the closing seconds Brother scrapped into a decent one but it didn’t fully materialize. His clean carves, casual floater and whipped out reverse started out promising but Kolohe couldn’t find a closing section to go tail high and take the win.

In the today’s final heat Brett Simpson made the quarters! Nat Young and Simpo squared off in round five. Challenging waves and heavy onshore flow prevailed, the boys had to work for their points. Neither Simpo nor Nat were able to break a total heat score of ten; Simpo 9.77, Nat 6.33. Our dear Brett will go up against wildcard Frederico Morais who’s been white hot this comp. He’s coming fresh off eliminating the world number one from competition. With tricky conditions in the forecast, wave selection is going to be key… local knowledge may continue to breed success.

Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal Round 4 Results:
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores  14.63, Vasco Ribeiro 10.60, Keanu Asing 8.36
Heat 4: Italo Ferreira 17.17, Gabriel Medina 10.73, Michel Bourez 7.77

Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal Round 5 Results:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson 12.84 def. Kolohe Andino 10.67
Heat 2: Brett Simpson 9.77 def. Nat Young 6.33

Remaining Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal Round 5 Match-Ups:
Heat 3: Vasco Ribeiro vs. Michel Bourez
Heat 4: Gabriel Medina vs. Keanu Asing

Upcoming Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal Quarterfinal Match-Ups:
QF 1: Filipe Toledo vs. Joel Parkinson
QF 2: Frederico Morais vs. Brett Simpson
QF 3: Jeremy Flores vs. TBD
QF 4: Italo Ferreira vs. TBD