Pupo has has seen the highs and lows of competitive life. Ringing the Bell couldn’t have been much sweeter. Photo: Cait Meiers//WSL
If fans thought the 2026 Championship Tour was going to just be off and running after a seven-month break, they were wrong. The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach had plenty of starts and stops, lay-days, delays, and ultimately, a final on the last day of the competition window that even needed time to get moving. The day started with four semifinalists ready to go on the women’s side, and an incomplete quarterfinal round to get through on the men’s. In the end there were two surfers ringing the Bell for the first time and now two new names on the back of each field’s yellow jersey, Gabby Bryan and Miguel Pupo,
The first Final of the day went down between Bryan and defending world champion Molly Picklum. Both surfed in last year’s WSL Finals at Cloudbreak but only faced each other once the entire season — a win for Bryan in the final at J-Bay.
Bryan kept that momentum against Picklum at head-high Winkipop Saturday and held court through a slow 40-minute final. She had a stranglehold on the lead in the last 10 minutes of the heat when one of the few waves on offer came her way, and the Hawaiian delivered a powerful two-turn combination for a 7.00. The score was high enough to back Picklum into a combo situation down the stretch. There wasn’t much Picklum could do about it either, because the ocean wasn’t offering up much action. At one point, with about two minutes left, Picklum sat in the lineup and just threw up her arms with a big smile as if to say, “What can I do?” She did catch one last wave in before the horn, but she spent the ride waving at Bryan and saluting the new yellow jersey owner.
“I can’t even believe I get to ring the bell. It’s an event I’ve always wanted to win but never got better than a quarter. Now I get to ring it,” Bryan said as soon as the heat ended.
Bryan continued her consistent surfing. Could 2026 be her year? Photo: Cait Meiers//WSL
The win is Bryan’s sixth in her Championship Tour career. As she mentioned, it’s her best result at Bells.
On the men’s side it was the first-ever all-Brazilian final featuring two goofy-footers. Defending world champion Yago Dora and veteran Miguel Pupo. And unlike the women’s final, Dora and Pupo got off to a hot start as soon as the horn sounded. Within the first minutes both surfers had put up mid-size scores in the six and seven-point range. Dora had a 13.9 heat total on the board within six minutes of starting.
And then the ocean went quiet again.
Miguel Pupo sat with priority for more than 15 minutes without a wave coming through for either surfer. A single set wave did finally appear, and Pupo used his priority on a low-scoring three-turn combination. He took another swing moments later, this time under priority, and flipped the heat with a 8.10.
Dora now sat with priority needing a 7.88 or higher to keep his yellow jersey. The defending world champ had already delivered the highlight of the day earlier in the semifinal against Gabriel Medina. Needing a 9.3 in the final seconds of that heat, Dora took a wave that he’d ride out as time would expire. He closed the wave out with a 360 reverse air that netted him a 9.5 and a trip to the final. So the table was set for another magic finish if the ocean could send one last wave. Sure enough, Dora got his chance on a moderate set wave with 15 seconds to go. There was no massive final maneuver this time, just a floater after a handful of backhand carves. No claim. No cheers on the beach. The judges deliberated for a moment after the heat ended and both surfers walked up the beach, but this time the score came in well short of the 7.88 needed.
The 34-year-old Miguel Pupo collected his second CT win in more than 150 contests and rang the Bell for the first time. The Brazilian goofy-footer has been a constant on the Championship Tour since his first full season in 2012, missing just the 2019 season and then re-qualifying. He was also a victim of the WSL’s mid-year cut in 2023 and 2024, immediately re-qualifying to start each of the next seasons. It’s been a long road, and sometimes hard to remember that Pupo was one of the young talents over a decade ago that helped earn his countrymen the “Brazilian Storm” label. And now he’ll be wearing the yellow jersey.
“I was dreaming about this moment. So much hard work,” he said. “Fourteen seasons, and if you were to tell me I’d be number one today, I’d probably laugh at you.”
There won’t be another seven-month wait this time. The second stop of the 2026 CT kicks off on Wednesday, April 16, at the Western Australia Margaret River Pro.
