Brazilian Gabriel Medina has just been crowned world surfing champion of the World Surf League in Hawaii, after securing his place in the grand final of the Pipe Masters, which eliminates the chances of the other remaining contender, Julian Wilson.

Medina was caught between a rock and a hard place in his semi-final series with Jordy Smith but used his surfing and competitive talent to get Smith to go on a wave that wasn't good, take priority and surf a 9,10 that put him in first place in the series.

The result makes him the only Brazilian in history to win two world titles, and it is the third WSL world title to go to Brazil.

“This means a lot to me, I worked hard this year, it was intense, I am very happy now, the effort was rewarded. I can't find words,” said the Brazilian.

“I thank my family, they make me give my best and at the end of the day they are what matters. And this is God's plan, I am very happy to win again,” he added.

He concluded: “The tour is at a very high level and the best in the world were the ones who pushed me to surf better all the time. It was a long, very tense year.”

Smith put pressure on Medina from the start, and after five minutes he had two barrels at Backdoor, one of which was a barrel that paid him 8,5. Halfway through the series, the Brazilian sold a wave to Smith who had priority and the one behind was the one that decided the title: The Brazilian received 9,1 for a barrel on a good right.

The final score of that semi-final was 16,27 to 15,83.

Among other things, this result gave Jessé Mendes the Hawaiian Triple Crown title.