Julian Wilson Stays Alive, But Medina Can Still Win It Tomorrow

Trav Logie called the comp off with one heat to go in Round 4 yesterday.

As it turns out, that heat was incredibly important. In it was the only man who can stop Medina from leaving Portugal with not one but two big trophies.

Julian Wilson, Owen Wright, and Ace Buchan paddled out at a three-foot ripbowl that put the fun in ‘funky’. Not epic Supertubos by any means, but an enjoyable wave by most standards.

After 20+ waves surfed, it was Wright and Wilson who held the qualifying positions. Needing a 7-something, Ace took off on his final wave and tagged it a couple times, stamped the end section with authority and rode out low to convey a sense of difficulty.

But Ace knew it wasn’t good enough.

Ten years as the Tour’s resident accountant has made Ace uber-aware of the judges’ tendencies, and with a World Title on the line there was no way they’d give him a Julian-beating score on anything shy of an eight.

The quarterfinals will run tomorrow. If Julian makes the semis or better, the Title goes to Pipe. If he loses the first heat and Medina goes on to win the event, Gab will be a two-time World Champ.

That’d feel pretty anti-climactic though, so let’s hope for the former.

Quarterfinal Heat Match-Ups

Heat 1: I. Ferreira, M. Bourez
Heat 2: G. Medina, M. Wilkinson
Heat 3: J. Duru, J. Wilson
Heat 4: O. Wright, K. Igarashi

Round Four Results:

Heat 4: O. Wright 12.16, J. Wilson 12.10, A. Buchan 11.13