This is how Italo Ferreira's world title came about
Stage by stage, a review of the Brazilian's journey to become champion
Cover photo: WSL/Cestari
An incredible ability to do aerials, coupled with a good style on the tubes and agility to maneuver in heavy sections with fluidity and power were the weapons that gave Italo Ferreira the 2019 world title, the fourth for Brazil in the last six tours.
The title, stop by stop, came about as follows:
Stage 1: Quik Pro Gold Coast: 1st
In small waves at Duranbah Bay, Italo turned around a final that Kolohe Andino had practically won by doing a full backside rotation, without priority, the Californian let him take the wave.
Stage 2: Rip Curl Pro Bells 5th
He was unable to repeat last year's victory because in the quarter-finals he came up against Jordy Smith who threw himself at a right hand that Italo was coming at. The Brazilian let him go but the judges considered that he had damaged his potential and called interference.
Stage 3: Corona Bali Protected: 17, discard 1 from your score line
In Keramas he was also unable to defend last year's win as he was completely out of his depth in his round 3 heat against Jack Freestone, scoring a mere 4,77. His right ankle was injured and that surely affected him in getting a 17 and his first elimination of the year.
Stage 4: Margaret River Pro: 5th
After being sent down one of the best bombs ever surfed at The Box by a goofy footer, back in the Main Break, he encountered an inspired John John Florence in the quarter-finals who beat them 17,73 to 15,36.
Stage 5: Oi Río Pro: 17, second discard of the year
In Itaúna, Saquarema, again wearing an ankle bracelet, met Frederico Morais, a series that on paper seemed to be his, but it was not to be. The Portuguese beat him by 13,27 to 7,13. Ferreira was not in tune, did not take many risks and did not find the waves with potential.
Stage 6: Corona Open JBay: 2nd
Italo was advancing through the series, making history by reaching the final as a goofy alongside another goofy, Gabriel Medina, who ended up beating him and achieving a trophy in Jbay after 30 years for those who put their right foot forward.
In the semi-finals he beat Filipe Toledo, in the quarter-finals he beat Kanoa Igarashi and in the round of 16 he beat Kelly. His ability and courage to put his board in critical moments, one of the fundamental characteristics of his surfing, were key to achieving the runner-up position in the stage.
Stage 7: Tahiti Pro: 17th
Italo found himself in the round of 32 against Adriano de Souza, who made a fleeting and very successful comeback, sending himself into bombs and finding the exit. Italo did not do too badly, scoring 16,83 which would have been enough to get through the rest of the heats, but not this one as De Souza scored 17,87. With two minutes to go De Souza needed 8,14, Italo already felt he was on the other side, but the 2015 world champion turned the heat around.
With this Ferreira added another discard and moved away from his hopes of winning the title; he left Tahiti in sixth place in the rankings.
Stage 8: Freshwater Pro: 9th
Ferreira was very close to making it into the final eight, he needed an 8,77 on his last right and after filling it with maneuvers and tubes, he got an 8,4. He left the wave pool in fifth place in the ranking.
Stage 9: Quiksilver Pro France: 2nd
The European leg changed Italo's life: Using tubes, aerials and heavy lip attacks, he reached the grand final where he was defeated by Jeremy Flores. Filipe and Gabriel Medina's poor performances helped him climb to fourth place.
Stage 10: MEO Rip Curl Pro: 1st
A similar situation: Fast waves, strong walls, tubes and ramps were the perfect setting for Italo to win without a doubt. In the final against Jordy Smith, he did a giant backside aerial that earned him 10 points. A mediocre performance by the rest of the contenders dropped him from fourth to first place in the rankings.
He went to Pipeline needing to be a step above Medina and Toledo.
Stage 11: Billabong Pipe Masters: 1st
Italo had a great time: He arrived at Pipe a month before the event started and in November he rode some of the best and heaviest waves of the season. Many said that the move could be risky because Pipe is one of the most dangerous waves in the world. He took some good ones, did not get injured, and when the event started he was well prepared.
With Shane Dorian advising him, he had everything on his side to achieve victory.
As the series progressed, everything was defined as expected: He against Medina, his closest rival, whoever won the final, won the world championship.
Incredibly, Medina's strategy of always putting pressure on his opponent at the beginning of the series, trying to always go further inside, went wrong because Neptuno sent a right, Medina paddled it as if he intended to go to Pipe, but it was Backdoor.
That set the tone for the grand finale, which had magic in Ferreira's favour. Medina did not get much right, and Italo did not get everything right, but what went well was enough.
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