John John Florence wins the Rio Pro
BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (Thursday, May 19, 2016) – John John Florence (HAW) has claimed victory today at the Oi Rio Pro, Stop No. 4 of 11 on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour, besting rookie Jack Freestone (AUS) in punchy four-to-six foot (1.5 - 2 metre) waves at Postinho.
“I love coming back here to Rio,” Florence said. “This is where I won my first World Championship Tour event. The waves are really similar to Hawaii with their power. Everyone here in Brazil has been so supportive. If it was not for everyone’s support on the beach cheering us on every wave, I do not know if I would have been as stoked. Thank you to everyone.”
Today’s emphatic victory vaults Florence from 13th to 3rd on the WSL Jeep Leaderboard, well within striking distance of the frontrunner position. Florence previously defeatedAdriano de Souza (BRA) and Dusty Payne (HAW) en route to the Final today.
“Obviously I want to try to win a World Title, but I am going to take it heat by heat, event by event,” continued Florence. “Hopefully I will come out on top, but we will see. The waves have been challenging and everyone has been surfing so well, so I am stoked to be here and win this event.”
Today’s win marks the Hawaiian’s third elite tour victory, having previously finished atop the field here in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 and in France in 2014.
The Final got off to an exciting start with an exchange that saw Florence deliver an aggressive two-turn combination for a solid 7.00, while Freestone failed to complete his ride, earning a 3.17. Florence continued to heat up, posting more excellent scores. With only ten minutes into the Final, Florence threw up a near-perfect 9.70 by locking in a dynamic two-turn combination. The Hawaiian proved to be unstoppable, finishing with an impressive 18.97 heat total by landing a massive air to earn another near-perfect score, a 9.27, putting the Australian in an impossible combination situation.
Freestone, who suffered an injury after the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, returned to Rio in full force after a two-event absence. Today marks Freestone’s first Final appearance and highest career finish on the Championship Tour. To reach the Final, the rookie previously dispatched 2014 WSL Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) and Miguel Pupo (BRA). Freestone’s second place result will move him from 37th to 19th on the Jeep Leaderboard.
“I am very happy,” Freestone said. “It was a long week and I just had to take it heat by heat. To come back from an injury and get second place is amazing, and I am over the moon. I would just like to thank everyone here in Brazil for all of their support. I would like to congratulate John on a crazy win. It was a great time here in Rio.”
Freestone upset the competition by eliminating Medina in Semifinal 2. Medina, the crowd-favorite who previously posted two perfect 10-point rides in the event, was poised to make a Finals appearance, but the rookie threw down an aggressive performance to advance. Medina secured a near-perfect 9.07 with his backside full rotation air, but Freestone continued to chip away with his two-turn combinations. Freestone hammered down a 7.83 and 8.67, forcing Medina to chase a 7.43. Medina was not able to find the waves to combat Freestone’s lead and will walk away with a 3rd place finish, his best of 2016. Today’s results see Medina move up nine places from 18th to 9th on the Jeep Rankings.
“I am stoked to get this result,” Medina said. “I feel like I am back and last year was a great year for me because I was fighting for the Title. I wish I was in the Final against John because that would be sick, but I am so happy with my finish. Hopefully I can keep doing well. I am excited for Fiji and the great waves. I love that place.”
Semifinal 1 witnessed Florence eliminate Adriano de Souza (BRA), reigning WSL Champion. With eight previous match-ups between the two former event winners, this heat adds a sixth win to Florence’s tally. Florence got an early lead by tying together barrels and aggressive railwork, putting pressure on De Souza to post high-scoring rides. Florence furthered his lead with a huge combination maneuver to earn a near-perfect 9.80 and backed that up with an 8.93. De Souza, with only a 12.66 heat score, was caught in a combination that he wasn’t able to escape.
After a slow start on the Australian leg, today was De Souza’s first Semifinal appearance of the year. De Souza’s 3rd place finish will move him up to 6th place on the Jeep Leaderboard heading into Fiji.
“This is a good result,” De Souza said. “I’ve been working so hard to be in a Final, but it was not enough. I think John has the best rhythm with the ocean and his talent is unbeatable. I am happy with my performance from the start of the event to the Semifinal. It was great to have all the support of my family and friends here in Brazil, as well as all the fans. I wish so much to be in the final, but I am happy.”
De Souza previously dispatched 2016 WSL Rookie Davey Cathels (AUS) in the second heat of the Quarterfinals. Cathels put out a solid effort to knock out the reigning World Champion, but fell short by only 2.97 points. Cathels will walk away with a 5th place finish, his highest on the CT.
Florence eliminated Dusty Payne (HAW), injury replacement and former CT charger, in the opening Quarterfinal match-up. Florence found his way out of two deep barrels to earn a 15.17 two-wave score. Payne, with an 8.50 heat total, was not able to find the near-perfect 9.67 he needed to defeat Florence.
Oi Rio Pro Men’s Final Results:
1 - John John Florence (HAW) 18.97
2 - Jack Freestone (AUS) 16.13
Oi Rio Pro Men’s Semifinal Results:
SF 1: John John Florence (HAW) 18.73 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.66
SF 2: Jack Freestone (AUS) 16.50 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.67
Oi Rio Pro Men’s Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: John John Florence (HAW) 15.17 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 8.50
QF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.97 def. Davey Cathels (AUS) 10.00
QF 3: Jack Freestone (AUS) 12.50 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.60
QF 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.77 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 6.00
2016 Samsung Galaxy Top 5 (after Oi Rio Pro):
- Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 24,500 pts
- Italo Ferreira (BRA) 18,750 pts
- John John Florence (HAW) 18,700 pts
- Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 17,500 pts
- Caio Ibelli (BRA) 17,200 pts
Comments
Congrats to JJF for winning, and to Jack for making the final.
Am Rapt Medina didn't win it.
As above.
“I love coming back here to Rio,” Florence said.
"The waves are really similar to Hawaii with their power."
Hahahahaha. WSL have got to him and brainwashed him with their well scripted waffle.
Watched Davey Cathel's heat last night. It reminded me of surfing Dumpers on the SA Mid Coast.
Which, for those who haven't surfed there, isn't very flattering.
Couldn't watch more than one heat.
I was expecting to see Wart and Gary Weed killing it!
it was painful to watch.....
that said, what JJF managed to do out there in mind-numbing closeouts was truly impressive.
For sure, incredible surfing.
One backhand turn by De Sousa though in the semi was off tap but JJF pretty much schooled everybody.
Glad to see the comp wasn't won on Hail-Mary airs.
Do the WSL thought police want us to believe every surfer, male or female, who wins one of their contests actually says "I'm stoked!" The comments attributed to various winners and losers are inevitably full of bland throwaways about how whiz bang wonderful everything is and that they all have a warm inner glow towards their fellow competitors and the world in general. Ha ha ha - not so sure brat boy and local darling Medina was thinking that after being ousted by rank outsider Freestone. This dreary contest was held in crap conditions that I can surf most days of the week at my local down the corner and then drag myself home fully pissed off with ears and boardshorts full of sand after being dumped on my head ten times. So these guys can ride closeouts better than me. No thanks.
Dreary contest! Didn't you here what winner JJF said?
"I love coming back here to Rio,” Florence said. “The waves are really similar to Hawaii with their power."
It's the Brazilian Pipeline.
JJF is a piss-taker par excellence. Skate rat.
“Obviously I want to try to win a World Title," said John John, "but I am going to take it heat by heat, event by event,”
Love a man with a strategy...
Love the shit dribble - " And, umm, I'm just really proud of the boys, they, umm, trained really hard in the off season and really stepped up to the plate today. Yeah, umm, it's just like a dream come true..."
I'd say his view might be a little biased after pocketing , what $50K US.
nice little payday for lassooing a few untameable beachbreaks.
Well, yes, winner are grinners .... losers in this case can dig the sand out of their arses.
What a horrible wave. Watching a heat basically to see who got the one wave that had a corner for 2 seconds. After witnessing this ill be expecting WSL scaffolding to be erected this time next year at Portsea. Catchya brazil.
Nick Portsea is way better than that even on a bad day. Rio has possibly the worst beach breaks on earth, but hey it is unreal out there!
Glad to see one good thing came out of this comp..well done JJF
i guess the WSL has to have a comp in Brazil because i cannot see any other reason to surf in that mush. unwatchable really, but happy with the finalists.
Truly terrible conditions. Odd to see surfers trying to stay in the middle of a rip in the hope a "corner" might turn up somewhere. I tried hard to watch last night only because my fantasy picks where JJ and Freestone.
Seriously there has to be better waves in Brazil somewhere ? If not just build one of Kelly's pools.....I can't believe I said that.
I agree, how bad was that. Now Slater, Fanning and Christie are virtually gone WSL will have to rely on guys like JJF, Medina, freestone etc and it won't cut it. And the Slater wave pool 's not the answer, like FREE said that is the biggest sell out since evil bitch Gidget. I watched some heats, especially JJF semi and the waves were bad and he was scoring big but I hated it. Why did I keep watching? I think I enjoyed watching to hate it!?
Anyone else finding the commentary painful? No critical thinking evident and the 2 or 3 surfers in each heat suddenly become the 'best' at something or another.
They are laying the mayo on pretty thick and after a couple of heats I've got to turn the sound off.
I actually didn't mind watching this. It's great to watch these guys surf perfect waves, but sometimes it's great to see them have to try really hard to make things look good too. At least it wasn't 1 ft.
Bring back Bobby Martinez for a reality check and a little truth...sorry I forgot to put that in a hashtag #bringbackbobby #fuckingtennistour
Go crg I am with you. The WSL need an alrighty keep in the rectum over this one.
It was painful hearing Pottz and co trying to stay excited. Had to tune out but good to heat JJF won.
Too positive Peabo for here! But good on you for being honest, you are the odd one out. No Aussie commentators, can you believe that - it's so bad. And what about WSL trying to introduce an Italian stallion - thats sinister too.
Can't say I watched any of this "marketing strategy" from the WSL. . .the updates I saw on your site were bad enough,Good to see JJF get the nod though and Mr Freestone
must be boosted with his result.
We need more Aussie chargers to step up. . .come on lads.Imagine a pro surfing landscape in five years with a majority of Brazilian,European rippers a couple of Aussies ,Yanks and Hawiians trying to cut it, wit the aforementioned Brazzos goin
pump , pump punt "OH another 10 point score coming up" POTTZ will say".
Its not a pro surfing world I wanna watch.
Don' get me wrong , all credit to the Brazzo boys ,they would surf rings around me , but I think ,IMO, they come at surfing with a less rounded style. This may be due to
a narrower array of waves where they surf as grommets. If this is the best beachbreak
on offer I pity them.
C'MON Aussie!
I swear for the first ten minutes of that first semi the judges were trying to give the heat to ADS until jjf kicked into gear and they couldn't deny him.
It sucked but I would watch the whole event again just to laugh at the crowds reaction after Jack dropped his 8.67 *crickets* ..... I would have loved to see Freestone throw a shrug claim at the judge tower to rub that one in a bit!
I saw on the news and so pleased for JJ to win , would of probably been
happier if Jack Freestone won but never the less even more pleased those
over claimed,hyped Brazilians were not in the final.
I cant believe I didnt watch one heat I just wasnt interested in that contest.
Good crowd at this event who, once their countrymen had been eliminated, got behind some great surfing. Would have loved to see the commenters here in Rio, most of yas would be sitting in a hotel room with the blinds down watching a prized VHS copy of the 1977 stubbies and complaining about the Brazilians! I'm no huge ADS fan but the bottom line is that the country is producing the most interesting rail and air surfing right now (JJF excepted) and in a couple of years there will be a second CT there, matching the two left in Australia if we're lucky. Changing of the guard, great to see!