Men’s Event
In the heats, the best score went to Italo Ferreira (Brazil). There was some intriguing round of sixteen ties. Kanoa Igarashi (Japan) went through before the big American clash saw Kolohe Andino (United States) defeat John John Florence (United States). Michel Bourez (France) made it through and will have to go through Gabriel Medina (Brazil) who beat Julian Wilson (Australia). Italo Ferreira will face Hiroto Ohhara (Japan). Lucas Messinas (Peru) will have to compete against the highest scorer in Owen Wright (Australia) who beat Jeremy Flores (France). Igarashi defeated Andino to head to the semi-finals before the two Brazilians came out and wowed. Medina scored 15.33 to win his quarter-final whilst Ferreira scored 16.30. Wilson defeated Messinas to complete the semi-final. The incredible run of Igarashi continued as he scored 17.00 to defeat the 16.76 of Medina. Like Osaka, Igarashi’s family had emigrated to America when he was young but the beach they competed on, was one where his Dad has surfed making it a special moment for him. To meet him in the final, Ferreira beat Wilson 13.17 to 12.47. The third-place playoff was even closer as Wright beat Medina by 0.2. In the final Ferreira took a big lead early with some big scores.
🥇Italo Ferreira 🇧🇷
🥈Kanoa Igarashi 🇯🇵
🥉Owen Wright 🇦🇺
Women’s Event
Stephanie Gilmore (Australia) got the best score of 14.50 in the heats. The big surprise came as she lost in the round of sixteen to Bianca Buitendag (South Africa). Johanne Defay (France) also was upset by Yolanda Hopkins (Portugal). Caroline Marks (United States) laid down a big marker of 15.33. The other half of the draw was stronger. Carissa Moore (United States) and Silvana Lima (Brazil) both went through to set up an intriguing quarter-final. Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia) made her way through to the quarter-final where she will come up against Amuro Tsuzuki (Japan) who upset Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil). Buitendag continued her good form to make the semi-finals where she will come up against Marks. Carissa Moore scored 14.26 to overcome Lima and it was another Tsuzuki upset with a score of 13.27. In the semis, many would have expected the two Americans to set up a big final. Instead, it was Marks who let that down only managing 3.67 in the semi-final, losing out to Buitendag. It was a poor bronze medal match as Tsuzuki won with a 6.80 over Marks. The magical run of Buitendag came to an end as 19-year-old Moore scored 14.93 to take gold
🥇Carissa Moore 🇺🇸
🥈Bianca Buitendag 🇿🇦
🥉Amuro Tsuzuki 🇯🇵
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