Is Yago Dora World Tour Material?

We like to see Yago claim. It’s a passion and competitive spirit that eludes him in grainy black and white freesurf clips. But, today, he undid Kolohe Andino in sloppy chest-high waves emulate of a QS event. After a close call with John Florence yesterday and dropping Brother in waves similar to the beach breaks of San Clemente, Yago’s shown (in small surf at least) that he has the consistency and talent to mix it up with the top 34.

“That was my first heat win on a CT event,” said Yago. “I am really psyched to get that last wave. I got really nervous on the end because Kolohe had priority, and I was lucky to get the one-maneuver section and was able to do the air with the bump. I am stoked to make it through.”

Revisiting Yago’s round one rotation is the most thrilling thing to happen in round two.

Owen Wright is performing into surfing’s greatest comeback. For being the largest surfer on tour, Owen’s precision in small waves is indicative of overcoming a traumatic brain injury. Brazilian injury replacement, Bino Lopes didn’t stand a chance with his eight-point heat total. Owen skated through with a 16.

“The waves are really tricky,” Owen said. “I got an 8.50 on my first wave and I thought it would be easy to get another score, but a few minutes went by and I thought that I would just do a couple turns to get another 5 on the board just in case I was out of position. It ended up being like that for the rest of the heat. I am glad to make it through because you know the Brazilians are always going to perform their best in their home ground and there is a lot of support for them over here”

The remainder of the day was predictable. Saquarema continued to offer backwash pulp with a few workable sections and the scores in the excellent range would have been sixes at Lowers on a peaking six-foot tide. Gabriel Medina sent himself into round three, beating Jesse Mendes. The two have been surfing heats against each other since they were twelve.

“It is good to surf in Brazil,” said Gabby. “There are a lot of people rooting for you. I am stoked to get the win. Jesse and I have had some good battles and he is a really good surfer. He is so hard to beat and I am pretty sure he is going to qualify this year. I am rooting for him. That was a tough one because we had tricky conditions with a good surfer, so it makes it even harder.”

In the fourth and final heat of the day, Matt Wilko and Leo Fioravanti took to the onshore wonk for a show more anticlimactic than the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. To sum up today, it was over after two hours of surfing.

Round two results:
Heat 1: Yago Dora 14.27 def. Kolohe Andino 13.23
Heat 2: Owen Wright 16.00 def. Bino Lopes 8.97
Heat 3: Gabriel Medina 14.20 def. Jesse Mendes 10.66
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson 11.00 def. Leonardo Fioravanti 10.43

Remaining round two match-ups:
Heat 5: Michel Bourez vs. Jadson Andre
Heat 6: Sebastian Zietz vs. Ethan Ewing
Heat 7: Caio Ibelli vs. Joan Duru
Heat 8: Conner Coffin vs. Bede Durbidge
Heat 9: Connor O’Leary vs. Stuart Kennedy
Heat 10: Adrian Buchan vs. Miguel Pupo
Heat 11: Frederico Morais vs. Jack Freestone
Heat 12: Ezekiel Lau vs. Wiggolly Dantas