Erin Brooks will not win a fourth consecutive Championship Tour event at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal. The 19-year-old was on the verge of history after winning 15 heats and three events in a row, but she fell to reigning world champion Molly Picklum in a quarterfinal of closeouts at Supertubos.
Picklum showed her competitive prowess, surfing a smart heat to advance to the semis. She got both of her top scores from one-maneuver waves, and didn’t try to force barrels where none existed. Picklum’s strong snap on a closeout earned her the heat-high score of 6.83.
Brooks, on the other hand, spent the heat looking for barrels, and nearly made one. But pulling into closeouts and quick kickouts left her searching for a 6.34 that she never got.
I felt like Brooks made a tactical error; the judges had already shown that one solid maneuver could give her the score she needed. Instead, she kept looking for racing tubes, and when presented with opportunities to dig into her bag of aerials, she only half-heartedly attempted one in the dying seconds. Brooks has to feel like this wasn’t her best, or smartest, performance.
Even with the quarterfinals loss, Brooks improved her standing in the title race, surpassing Sawyer Lindblad and moving into fourth overall. Picklum is also surging in the rankings, moving up two spots to second overall. If Picklum wins the event, she’ll pass Carissa Moore for the rankings lead.
Brooks’ three wins in a row across Tahiti, Fiji, and Trestles cemented her place in the history books. But given how poorly she started the year, she needs to create more magic in the Philippines and Hawaii to make up the lost ground.
