Italo Ferreira Wins First Championship Tour Event in Three Years at Tahiti Pro

If you bet on this South Pacific swell falling short of the wild expectations that forced lay day after anxious lay day the past week at the Tahiti Pro, you were wrong. Teahupo’o delivered. And if you thought Wednesday’s historic Finals Day on the women’s side meant the swell would dip Thursday, you missed again. Teahupo’o delivered. And the men’s Championship Tour overdelivered in its performances, with Italo Ferreira topping them all.

If there was one gripe about the marathon Finals Day for the men it was that the world-class left didn’t churn out set  after set. Judges called for a clock reset in just the second heat of the day after Kanoa Igarashi and Ramzi Boukhiam made it down to the 20-minute mark without attempting to catch a single ride. Fast forward through the next 12 heats and judges made the same call in the semifinal matchup between John John Florence and Gabriel Medina. In between restarts, competitors logged 20 excellent scores, half of them nine points or higher, and one perfect 10 from a revived Medina. A solid run despite a few lulls.

The most impressive stamp of quality for Thursday’s waves came when Medina and Florence met in that semifinal — the 14th meeting between the two former world champs. Florence took off under the lip of what would be the heat’s first scoring wave. He stuck the shaky, steep takeoff from behind the peak and somehow rode out one of the most violent foam balls seen all day. Then he abandoned his trademark no-claim claim and threw his arms up in celebration as soon as he was spat out.

It was that good.

Meanwhile, Italo Ferreira consistently notched some of the highest heat totals and wave counts throughout the day. He notched two nine-point rides — one in the Round of 16 and one in the quarterfinal — with three of his six scoring waves before the final going into the excellent range. His lowest-scoring performance of the day came in the semis against Ramzi Boukhiam, in which he managed to catch eight waves to the Moroccan’s three.

The Final between Ferreira and Florence got off to that familiar slow start, though not slow enough for the judges to reset the clock. John John was the first to take a wave but he fell and didn’t collect a score. Water safety scooped him up and took the Hawaiian for a ride out of the impact zone and through the channel. By the time they were able to drop him off back in the lineup, Ferreira clocked two solid waves and jumped to a massive early lead with a 17.70 heat score. Florence did grind his way back into striking distance with a seven-point ride that left him needing a 9.87.

With just under five minutes to go, Florence took off about as deep on a set wave as you could get and again, threw his arms up in celebration after wrestling the foam ball. The wave was scored a 9.33 and Ferreira managed to hold off the rest of the heat with priority.

Competitors had put up a combined 27 excellent scores throughout the day. Florence took over the yellow jersey while Italo Ferreira celebrated his first event win since April 2021 at the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup.

Meanwhile, a very hyped swell delivered big time for both the men and women of the Championship Tour.

The post Italo Ferreira Wins First Championship Tour Event in Three Years at Tahiti Pro first appeared on The Inertia.