Up until round three, Portugal was sort of a disappointment. Compared to last year’s contest, and with perfect France still fresh in the minds of surf fans everywhere, expectations for Portugal were set high. Prevailing poor conditions put the contest on hold for the first few days, and when they did decide to run heats, it made us think Kieren Perrow was drunk for making that call.
Finally, Mother Nature decided to cooperate. Following Gabriel Medina’s amazing buzzer-beater air to take the win against wildcard Caio Ibelli, Filipe Toledo opened up round four with one of the best barrels of the contest and back it up with a massive full rotation, earning a 9.23 and a 9.77 respectively.
