WSL: Day three of Margaret River features Kelly Slater’s retirement announcement

Kelly Slater played her final season in the WSL

ENM has summarized each heat and separated the competition analysis into two parts. Slater gave an interview shortly after making the cut, revealing that he will stop competing regularly, but that he will still participate in WSL stages.

The World Surf League (WSL) experienced moments of excitement and tension in the fifth stage of the 2024 circuit, which takes place in Margaret River, Australia. This Monday’s (15th) action began in the men’s repechage with John John Florence escaping elimination, overtaking Otis North and advancing behind Callum Robson. Subsequently, Miguel Pupo overtook Barron Mamiya and qualified together with Reef Heazlewood. The third heat saw the defeat and elimination of Yago Dora against Cole Houshmand and Kelly Slater. The American legend is living her last moments on the Tour, as she no longer has any chance of escaping the cut. In the final dispute of the round, Deivid Silva got the better of Rio Waida and finished second, behind Matthew McGillivray.

Until then the day seemed calm in the WSL, but things changed quickly. Starting from the round of 32, the Brazilian Deivid Silva didn’t even have time to breathe and was already in contention against the Hawaiian Firenze. The heat was very exciting and the athletes started with a score of 8.17 and another 8.33, better for the foreigners. Subsequently, Silva scored a 6.83 and gained a lead. The two-time world champion responded in style and received a score of 8.8. With about two minutes left in the heat, the Brazilian tried one last trick, but the 8.53 was far from the 8.97 he needed. At the sound of the bell, victory for Firenze, which enters the round of 16.

It was time for Gabriel Medina to reach the pinnacle of the Main Break. The Sao Paulo native opened the heat against Ryan Callinan with a total of 9.17 and took the lead in the matchup. The Australian surfed three waves, got a 7.67, but was far from the three-time world champion. Medina even changed her two grades, scoring a 5.93 and an incredible 8.73 to qualify for Margaret.

The third and fourth heats of the group were occupied by the Pupo brothers. First, Miguel faced Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi. The score of 5.67 opened the work for Kanoa, who added a 6.67 leaving the Brazilian in a difficult combination. Later, the clock had already run 24 minutes when Igarashi scored a score of 6 and made his opponent even more difficult. Pupo responded with an important 7.10 and entered the heat. Soon after, Miguel continued his good form and received a score of 6.2, taking the lead. Feeling no pressure, Kanoa scored a 7.10 with six minutes left. Experiencing the tension of the cut, Miguel Pupo used his experience and surfed a wave two minutes later. Crowned with a score of 8.17, he won the heat and kept his dream of surviving the WSL cut alive.

The younger Samuel was inspired and also needed his final moments to secure his place in the next stage of the WSL. He faced Leo Fioravanti and opened with a score of 6.17. After a long period without waves, the Italian responded with a score of 7, with three powerful jerks. After. He still managed to get a 4.5 and took the lead. Samuca, threatened by the cut, remained calm and scored a vital 6.6 in practically the last minute, guaranteeing his place to face Miguel in the round of 16. A curious moment of the day was when Samuel had to literally run across the rocks of the Margaret River to complete a wave on a virtually flat spot.

The fifth heat of this stage had a special detail. Kelly Slater faced the current points leader, Griffin Colapinto. The comparison was won by the yellow jersey, but that remained in the background. The greatest surfer of all time declared after the conclusion of the competition that the 2024 season will be his last performance in the WSL. Slater revealed that he will receive an invitation to the Fiji stage, but that he doesn’t know if he will continue next year. Excited, the eleven-time world champion did not officially announce his definitive retirement in the interview, but the fact is that this seems to be a reality close to coming true.

Source: Terra

Rose

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