Entering Round One of the EDP Billabong Pro Cascais, the third of only five QS 10,000 events on the Qualifying Series this year, 17 of 34 Championship Tour surfers had joined the fray in Portugal looking to back up their 2018 CT qualification efforts.
Whatever pressure might come from having his face on billboards all over town, Morais dominated his opening heat in Cascais.
Of those 17 CT surfers, nearly every surfer ranked outside the top 20 is in attendance, not to mention local hero, No. 11 Frederico Morais, fellow Rookie of the Year candidate, No. 10 Connor O'Leary and No. 15 Sebastian Zietz
Noticeably absent are Jeep Leader World No. 1 Jordy Smith, No. 7 with a bullet, Filipe Toledo, and No. 12 Kolohe Andino (who won this event in 2015). All of whom were originally seeded into the preliminary draw, but have decided to drop out for one reason or another.
Tour stars open up about the high-flying Brazilian and his impact.
As windsurfers and kiteboarders whizzed past on the horizon outside the competition zone for the second day running, Deputy Commissioner Travis Logie's decision to grind through eight heats of Round One and another 24 heats of Round Two over the span of two long days has put this event well on its course.
Has Josh Kerr taken over the 'best pro surfer without a major sponsor' mantle? - WSL / WSL/POULLENOT
With eight heats of Round Three now fully complete, 11 of those original 17 CT surfers are still left standing, the glaring exceptions being No. 10 O'Leary, No. 15 Zietz, No. 17 Jeremy Flores, No. 35 Josh Kerr (who's developed a disconcerting habit of waiting until the second half of his heats to open his account), No. 28 Jack Freestone and No. 27 Ian Gouveia. Of those six surfers, only O'Leary Flores and Zietz will enter the Hawaiian leg with a favorable look at re-qualification.
For the CT crew, a win in Portugal can count for more than half of the points necessary to qualify via the QS. Every CT surfer has the talent, but can they still make the tactical adjustments needed to win once again on the QS's biggest stages? That question lingers.
Will Yago Dora be taking his ninja skills to the CT next year? Despite an early exit in Cascais, odds for the young Brazilian are looking good at the moment. - WSL / WSL/POULLENOT
Over on the Qualifying Series leaderboard, the unexpected Round Two exits of QS No. 2 Yago Dora, No. 4 Michael Rodrigues and No. 8 Jorgann Couzinet from the draw has created a massive opportunity for the rest of the top 10, all of whom have survived the dreaded pitfalls of Round Two. The big question for the remaining QS grinders is who can take advantage of their opportunity to bank big points in Cascais?
Will the ever-changing moods of the North Atlantic and the shifting sandbanks of Cascais play a critical role in answering those questions? Odds are looking like they might.
CT and QS Numbers at a Glance
Brad Drew
Entering Round One of the EDP Billabong Pro Cascais, the third of only five QS 10,000 events on the Qualifying Series this year, 17 of 34 Championship Tour surfers had joined the fray in Portugal looking to back up their 2018 CT qualification efforts.
Of those 17 CT surfers, nearly every surfer ranked outside the top 20 is in attendance, not to mention local hero, No. 11 Frederico Morais, fellow Rookie of the Year candidate, No. 10 Connor O'Leary and No. 15 Sebastian Zietz
Noticeably absent are Jeep Leader World No. 1 Jordy Smith, No. 7 with a bullet, Filipe Toledo, and No. 12 Kolohe Andino (who won this event in 2015). All of whom were originally seeded into the preliminary draw, but have decided to drop out for one reason or another.
As windsurfers and kiteboarders whizzed past on the horizon outside the competition zone for the second day running, Deputy Commissioner Travis Logie's decision to grind through eight heats of Round One and another 24 heats of Round Two over the span of two long days has put this event well on its course.
With eight heats of Round Three now fully complete, 11 of those original 17 CT surfers are still left standing, the glaring exceptions being No. 10 O'Leary, No. 15 Zietz, No. 17 Jeremy Flores, No. 35 Josh Kerr (who's developed a disconcerting habit of waiting until the second half of his heats to open his account), No. 28 Jack Freestone and No. 27 Ian Gouveia. Of those six surfers, only O'Leary Flores and Zietz will enter the Hawaiian leg with a favorable look at re-qualification.
For the CT crew, a win in Portugal can count for more than half of the points necessary to qualify via the QS. Every CT surfer has the talent, but can they still make the tactical adjustments needed to win once again on the QS's biggest stages? That question lingers.
Over on the Qualifying Series leaderboard, the unexpected Round Two exits of QS No. 2 Yago Dora, No. 4 Michael Rodrigues and No. 8 Jorgann Couzinet from the draw has created a massive opportunity for the rest of the top 10, all of whom have survived the dreaded pitfalls of Round Two. The big question for the remaining QS grinders is who can take advantage of their opportunity to bank big points in Cascais?
Will the ever-changing moods of the North Atlantic and the shifting sandbanks of Cascais play a critical role in answering those questions? Odds are looking like they might.
Jack Freestone
Before CT hopefuls can book their tickets for 2022 they need to shine at a notoriously tricky North Shore venue.
Season 3, Episode 1
Go behind the scenes with Jack Freestone as he starts his road to the Rip Curl WSL Finals.
WSL Leaderboard frontrunners Gabriel Medina and Carissa Moore set the pace at Strickland Bay, but there are more high-powered heats on tap.
With more east in the swell, Narrabeen came alive as World Title contenders made their presence felt with some nail-biting heat wins.
Jack Freestone recently said he's a World Title threat this year, and then backed that up with one of the waves of the day at Backdoor.
EDP Billabong Pro Cascais
Following his second career HIC Pro victory, the Hawaiian is now well positioned to return to the Championship Tour next year.
After his recent QS 10,000 win in Cascais, the Hawaiian will try to take control of his destiny at the MEO Rip Curl Pro in Peniche.
O potiguar ficou perto da quinta vitória consecutiva do Brasil no WSL Qualifying Series perdendo o título do EDP Billabong Pro Cascais.
Fully recovered from injury, the Brazilian is back to scintillating form.
The local hero's incredible run at the EDP Billabong Pro Cascais was ended by Zeke Lau in the Semifinals.