Reigning World Champion Gabriel Medina surprised the surfing world when he decided to make a trip to Sumatra for the Krui Pro QS 3,000. Set in a remote jungle location, Medina kept his blades sharp on a perfect peeling warm water left-hander in preparation for the Corona Bali Protected (a right-hander at Keramas).

Medina Cruises at Krui
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The Brazilian goofy-foot makes his maneuvers on the reeling left-point look effortless.

Surfing in only his second QS event of the 2019 season, Gabby was looking solid, landing an air-reverse to score a 9.03 in his first heat. The Brazilian would go on to clock in two more excellent wave scores in the event until he was ultimately taken down by Mitch Coleborn in the Quarterfinals.

Gabriel Medina at the Krui Pro Gabriel Medina - WSL / Tim Hain

"The waves went a bit slow in that heat, but I caught a couple fun ones," Medina remarked about his Day 4 performance. "I really love Indonesia, the waves are incredible -- I surfed one of the best beach breaks ever just down the road yesterday. The people here are so nice, they have been great to me. I'm just having fun between CT's and this event was good opportunity to go somewhere new."

Gabriel Medina at the Krui Pro Gabriel Medina - WSL / Tim Hain

With Medina's status as a global sports star, it's no wonder the 25-year-old, 2x World Champ was, at one point, surrounded by adoring fans looking for that selfie moment.

Now with a solid warm up under his belt, Medina will be looking for his first CT event win of the season at the Corona Bali Protected. And with the break at Keramas being a perfect playing ground for high-performance aerial maneuvers, Medina has yet another chance to re-define the limits of progressive surfing.

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