- 2018-08-14
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SPORTS
World Surf League: Tahiti Pro Teahupo'o Kicks Off in Tahiti
The 7th stop on WSL Championship,Tahiti Pro Teahupo'o kicked off in Tahiti on August 13, 2018.
Unfortunately, 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) and 2-time World ChampionJohn John Florence (HAW) have withdrawn from this event due to injury.
Mikey Wright (AUS) and Wiggolly Dantas(BRA) step in as their replacement, respectively.
The event ran Round 1 and three heats of Round 2 in 4-6 foot (1.5 metre) waves.
Five competitors of Top 10 advanced to directly Round 3, such as Filipe Toledo (BRA), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Italo Ferreira (BRA), Gabriel Medina (BRA) and Michel Bourez (PYF).
Especially, currently No. 1 of Jeep Leaderboard, Filipe Toledo earned the best score of the day with 8.50 points in Heat 6.
After the heat Filipe Toledo said, "It feels good to finally get the rhythm over here."
Ranking No. 4, No. 5, Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferreira stably gained 14.84 (7.33 + 7.83), and 15.16 (7.57 + 7.27) respectively.
"I love surfing Teahupo'o. It doesn't matter how the waves are, it's always fun," said Gabriel Medina. "I know that's a maneuver you can get a lot of points on and I just went for it."
"I'm not 100-percent, but I'm ready to surf," admitted Italo Ferreira from the channel.
Defending Champion of the event and ranking No. 2, Julian Wilson (AUS) was a surprise defeated by a wild card Tikanui Smith (TAH) in In Heat 1 of Round 2. He left the event earlier.- Tahiti Pro Teahupo'o Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Wade Carmichael (AUS) 12.23, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.00, Joan Duru (FRA) 8.20
Heat 2: Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 11.23, Ian Gouveia (BRA) 8.60, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 7.70
Heat 3: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.84, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.17, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 6.63
Heat 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.16, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 9.20, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 2.56
Heat 5: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.63, Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.67, Mateia Hiquily (TAH) 8.94
Heat 6: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 15.50, Yago Dora (BRA) 7.83, Tikanui Smith (TAH) 2.50
Heat 7: Frederico Morais (PRT) 11.16, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 10.84, Michael February (ZAF) 10.80
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.40, Keanu Asing (HAW) 9.50, Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 7.56
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.96, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 12.17, Mikey Wright (USA) 11.17
Heat 10: Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.83, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 9.84, Griffin Colapinto (USA) 8.83
Heat 11: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.66, Owen Wright (AUS) 11.47, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 11.00
Heat 12: Connor O'Leary (AUS) 12.67, Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 8.76, Conner Coffin (USA) 8.53
Tahiti Pro Teahupo'o Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Tikanui Smith (TAH) 7.67 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 5.83
Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.10 def. Mateia Hiquily (TAH) 6.67
Heat 3: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 13.00 def. Willian Cardoso (BRA) 12.94
Heat 4: Mikey Wright (AUS) 10.83 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 8.33
Heat 5: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 12.27 def. Griffin Colapinto (USA) 11.06
Heat 6: Owen Wright (AUS) 14.27 def. Joan Duru (FRA) 6.00
Heat 7: Michael February (ZAF) 7.67 def. Conner Coffin (USA) 7.67
Heat 8: Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 12.90 def. Keanu Asing (BRA) 11.37
Heat 9: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 12,17 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 10.77
Heat 10: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.90 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 9.70
Heat 11: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 10.03 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 9.70
Heat 12: Yago Dora (BRA) 14.57 def. Tomas Hermes (BRA) 7.83 - source : World Surf League