Photos: Beatriz Ryder, Andrew Shield // WSL
Filipe Toledo and Bettylou Sakura Johnson have won the 2025 Gold Coast Pro. This was Sakura Johnson’s second appearance in a CT final, but first win. It was two-time world champion Toledo’s first final of 2025.
For men’s runner-up Julian Wilson, it was a Cinderella story cut short just before a happily ever after. He entered the competition on a wildcard and took down world number one Italo Ferreira in the opening round. After that upset, he beat out Marco Mignot, Miguel Pupo, and Kanoa Igarashi on his way to the podium. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, Toledo’s path to the finals took him through Crosby Colapinto, Jake Marshall, Yago Dora and Alejo Muniz. In his semifinal bout was against fellow Brazilian Muniz, Toledo scored a standout 10-point ride.
The final was a heart-pounding face-off, where Toledo and Wilson engaged in a tense back and forth in front of a roaring crowd. Toledo set a blistering pace early with an 8.33, but Wilson fired back with his own 8.10, backed up with a 7.73. Not to be outdone, Toledo scored an 8.53 and a 9.07, to put him in the lead before a lull quieted things down for a bit. As time wound down, Wilson put in a valiant effort. A whirlwind of snaps and air reverses earned him an 8.80 that brought him closer to victory, ultimately out of reach of the win.
In the rankings, Italo retains the top spot, despite the early loss. Yago Dora, Jordy Smith and Kanoa Igarashi bring up second through fourth, respectively, after Ethan Ewing dropped three positions to fifth. Filipe rockets up to sixth position, followed by Jack Robinson, Barron Mamiya and Miguel Pupo to round out the ten.
On the women’s side of the competition, Bettylou Sakura-Johnson beat out Sawyer Lindblad, Molly Picklum and Vahine Fierro on the way to victory. Her finals matchup, Sally Fitzgibbons, forged a path through an opener against Tyler Wright, Isabella Nichols and Erin Brooks.
In the final, it was a tale of quality versus quantity. Fitzgibbons broke the seal first, with a 3.33 ride. However, Bettylou followed that up with a barnstormer that earned her an 8.50, which was promptly cemented by a 6.50. From there it was a game of catch-up for Fitzgibbons, with meager waves providing few chances to do so. Bettylou upgraded her second wave with a 6.83 for good measure, and the final seconds wound down with Fitzgibbons still not managing to put together a combined score greater than Sakura Johnson’s first wave.
“It’s taken a lot,” shared Sakura Johnson in a post-heat interview. “So much hard work and a lot of patience and perseverance to put everything together. This was a really hard year for me, dealing with injuries and a whole bunch of other things, but super happy to just pull it together. My coach said ‘just go for it’ and that’s what I did.”
As far as rankings go, the top five stays the same, but 6-10 have seen some shakeups. Sakura Johnson unsurprisingly had a meteoric rise, going up seven places to the number six spot, bumping Caroline Marks to seven. Erin Brooks and Luana Silva rose up two places each to eight and nine, respectively. Rounding out the top ten is Sawyer Lindblad, who fell three spots, but stays inside the mid-season cut line.
The next event is the Western Australia Margaret River Pro. The seventh stop on the Championship Tour runs from May 17 – May 27.
