With very poor judging Italo Ferreira won the first and is the leader of the ranking
Kolohe Andino had the event but the referees thought differently. Caroline Marks won the women's category
The judges made two key mistakes that prevented Italo Ferreira from winning the Quik Pro and Kolohe Andino from taking his first victory in the CT: The first was in the semis against Jordy Smith, they paid almost the same for his two aerials as the best of the heat done by the South African and the second was more flagrant in the wave that changed everything in the grand final.
Ferreira took down a girl that Kolohe let go, she needed 6,93, made two bumps and flew out of sync to perform one of her dynamic aerials. From then on the beach stopped for about three minutes, the commentators did not take a position, they hesitated and the score came that drove the Brazilians crazy.
It was a 7,07, four judges gave it to him and one, an Australian, did not.
Visibly upset, Kolohe said on the broadcast that he should not have let him take that wave, noting that the wave was "literally" knee-high and that he did a full rotation on it.
Italo put on a show, jumping on top of his fans like a rock star and celebrating non-stop.
John John was eliminated in the semis and Gabriel Medina in the quarterfinals. Jordy Smith faced Ferreira and seems to have started the year on the right foot.
Young Caroline Marks took the women's category, beating Carissa Moore in the grand final.
Final day results
Champion: Italo Ferreira (BRA) by 12,57 points (7,07+5,50)
Vice: Kolohe Andino (USA) with 12,43 pts (6,50+5,93)
SEEDING
1st: Kolohe Andino (USA) 9.23 x 8.96 John John Florence (HAW)
2nd: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 15.33 x 14.67 Jordy Smith (AFR)
ROOMS
1st: John John Florence (HAW) 11.00 x 10.56 Conner Coffin (USA)
2.a: Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.33 x 11.47 Seth Moniz (HAW)
3rd: Jordy Smith (AFR) 13.17 x 9.23 Gabriel Medina (BRA)
4th: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 11.07 x 9.77 Wade Carmichael (AUS)
LADIES
Champion: Caroline Marks (USA) by 13,83 points (7,33+6,50)
Vice: Carissa Moore (HAW) with 11,67 points (6,00+5,67) – US$ 55.000 and 7.800 points
SEEDING
1st: Caroline Marks (USA) 12.67 x 11.50 Malia Manuel (HAW)
2nd: Carissa Moore (HAW) 11.90 x 9.87 Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
The four waves of the grand final:
Special coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on DUKE is presented by:
Related Notes:
Italo Ferreira won his third stage of the year in Portugal
He beat Joan Duru in the grand final. In the semis he beat Medina and took the decision of the tour to Hawaii
The intense moment of Ítalo Ferreira after his victory in Bells
He locked himself inside a bathroom and it hit him. "I got it!" he shouted over and over again.
Italo Ferreira was injured and is in doubt for the events that follow
He fell badly doing a backside floater, continued surfing the series injured, won and now it is not known if he will appear in the quarterfinals or in Tahiti.
