Philip Toledo eventually overcame Gabriel Medina at Surf Ranch and won the famous stage of the World Tour held at Kelly Slater’s Wave Pool in the United States. Filipinho had already reached the final of the competition twice, without ever lifting the trophy. And, on both occasions, his tormentor was Medina, the champion of the final two editions of the stage held away from the sea.
Toledo defeated the two-time world champions 17.94 to 10.60 in the final and won the sixth leg of the season. As a result, he moved up to third place overall with 32,065 points. It is only behind Italo Ferreira, the current world champion, with 33,555, and Medina, the leader of the season, with 46,720.
The owner of two titles on the World Tour does not leave Surf Ranch empty-handed, despite the setback in the final. Also on Saturday, he scored enough points in the stage to secure one of five places in the WSL Finals, a stage that would bring together the best of the season and define the 2021 champions at Trestles (USA) in September.
“In the last two, Gabriel beat me and I got that bitter taste. This win means a lot to me. Not only for the title and for being closer to the WSL finals, but because today is Father’s Day (in America) And my family is all here,” observed Filipinho, who lives in California with his wife and two children.
In women, the winner of the stage was French Johann Defoe. Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb finished third. In the rankings for the season, Hawaii leads Carissa Moore with 43,855. Johann Defoe is second with 34,645, followed by Australian Sally Fitzgibbons (34,270) and Brazilian surfer with 33,625.
