California surfer Sawyer Lindblad won her first surfing world championship tour event at Brazil’s Rio Pro on Friday with a victory over French teenager Tya Zebrowski.
Competition Details
In a low-scoring women’s final at Saquarema, near Rio de Janeiro, Lindblad took an early lead with a couple of sub-four point scores as both surfers struggled to find the right waves in the small, wonky, and backwash-affected conditions for a two-wave total of 7.67 points out of a possible 20.
With the clock ticking down and needing a modest score, Zebrowski took off on a wave but couldn’t complete it and ended with a two-wave total of 6.10.
Lindblad, the 2024 rookie of the year, expressed her emotions after the win, stating she had worked hard for this moment and was happy it was finally her day.
Men’s Final
Brazil’s reigning world champion Yago Dora soared to his first win of the season, taking the men’s final over Italy’s Leonardo Fioravanti.
Dora seized control of the final with a full rotation aerial on his backhand for an 8.50 out of 10 and backed it up with a similar turn on a smaller wave for a 6.50, giving him a healthy two-wave total of 15.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
