Adriano de Souza emerges as Jeep rankings leader and finds first event win of 2015.
Condensed Heats: Men's | Women's
Recaps: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Rounds 4 and 5 and Quarterfinals
Event Site | Full Results
Adriano de Souza (BRA) capped off his stellar run on the 2015 Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour (CT) Australian leg with the big win at the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. After competing in all eight rounds of the event, De Souza defeated John John Florence (HAW) in an intense, high-scoring finale.
Along the way, De Souza triumphed over 11-time World Champ Kelly Slater (USA) and Taj Burrow (AUS), who was the only Semifinalist to have won previously at Margaret River. Most importantly, though, he will head to the Oi Rio Pro No. 1 on the Jeep Leaderboard.
Adriano de Souza and Taj Burrow battle in the Semifinal wave to wave cutdown.
Before the Final, each surfer had his own set of advantages that might have suggested a win in Western Oz: As of the Semifinals, Florence's event heat average was 15.51, versus De Souza's 13.36. And while De Souza has four career CT victories to Florence's two, the Brazilian hasn't seen the top of the podium in two years. Florence, meanwhile, won in France last October, and has asserted a renewed commitment to becoming a World Champion. But so far this year, it has been De Souza with the momentum, including a third-place finish at Snapper Rocks and a runner-up finish at Bells.
Once the pair paddled out it was De Souza drew first blood, going rail to rail and finishing with a frontside float for an 8.93. Florence earned rides in the seven-point range for aggressive rail work and committed laybacks but he was unable to find a clean finish. Meanwhile, De Souza found a wave that was like his opener to force his opponent to hunt down a near-perfect score going into the back half of the 40-minute Final.
Florence found a 9.00 when he ultimately did stomp out a closeout section cleanly, but his two-wave total ultimately came up short. Still, his runner-up finish has him leaving Oz in the Top 10.
FINAL NOTES: Reigning World Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) is now out of the Top 10.
Nat Young (USA) who lost to Florence in the Semifinals, has broken into the Top 5 for the first time in his career.
Catch the Top 34 next in Brazil, when they battle at the Oi Rio Pro May 11-22.
De Souza Wins Drug Aware Pro, Solidifies No. 1 Spot
WSL
Condensed Heats: Men's | Women's
Recaps: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Rounds 4 and 5 and Quarterfinals
Event Site | Full Results
Adriano de Souza (BRA) capped off his stellar run on the 2015 Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour (CT) Australian leg with the big win at the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. After competing in all eight rounds of the event, De Souza defeated John John Florence (HAW) in an intense, high-scoring finale.
Along the way, De Souza triumphed over 11-time World Champ Kelly Slater (USA) and Taj Burrow (AUS), who was the only Semifinalist to have won previously at Margaret River. Most importantly, though, he will head to the Oi Rio Pro No. 1 on the Jeep Leaderboard.
Before the Final, each surfer had his own set of advantages that might have suggested a win in Western Oz: As of the Semifinals, Florence's event heat average was 15.51, versus De Souza's 13.36. And while De Souza has four career CT victories to Florence's two, the Brazilian hasn't seen the top of the podium in two years. Florence, meanwhile, won in France last October, and has asserted a renewed commitment to becoming a World Champion. But so far this year, it has been De Souza with the momentum, including a third-place finish at Snapper Rocks and a runner-up finish at Bells.
Once the pair paddled out it was De Souza drew first blood, going rail to rail and finishing with a frontside float for an 8.93. Florence earned rides in the seven-point range for aggressive rail work and committed laybacks but he was unable to find a clean finish. Meanwhile, De Souza found a wave that was like his opener to force his opponent to hunt down a near-perfect score going into the back half of the 40-minute Final.
Florence found a 9.00 when he ultimately did stomp out a closeout section cleanly, but his two-wave total ultimately came up short. Still, his runner-up finish has him leaving Oz in the Top 10.
FINAL NOTES: Reigning World Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) is now out of the Top 10.
Nat Young (USA) who lost to Florence in the Semifinals, has broken into the Top 5 for the first time in his career.
Catch the Top 34 next in Brazil, when they battle at the Oi Rio Pro May 11-22.
John John Florence
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Drug Aware Margaret River Pro
Matt Wilkinson shares his expert opinion on Main Break and The Box.
Barton Lynch, Tom Carroll, Jake Paterson and Stephanie Gilmore take some time to enjoy the splendors of remote Western Australia.
Catch the mayhem of Margaret River this Sunday on ABC.
Jeep rankings leader Adriano de Souza has finished 3, 2, 1 in the opening of the 2015 season, see the board that took him to No. 1.
Main Break and The Box prove tricky for Fantasy Surfing team managers.