Julian Wilson secured the first perfect 10-point ride with an alley-oop that rivals John John’s Bali punt. Credit: ASP

The Rip Curl Pro Portugal witnessed a marathon day of competition yesterday, completing the rest of Round 2 and then the whole of Round 3 in powerful four-to-six foot Supertubos.

The highlight of the day came from defending champion Julian Wilson with an insane alley oop.

“I felt like I bit off a bit more than I could chew when I was in the air on that one, but somehow I pulled it, that section was really really good,” an ecstatic Wilson said. “That’s the thing I love about competition, you put yourself in those situations where you don’t even for a second think about not making it,” Wilson continued. “In a freesurf I probably would have pulled the eject button like halfway through that air, that was for sure the biggest alley-oop I’ve ever done.”

John John’s win over on-form Filipe Toledo proved another exciting Round 3 match up with the Hawaiian launching a frontside full-rotation for a 9.07.

“I was really nervous going into this heat with Filipe (Toledo), he’s really scary especially with this wind,” Florence admitted. “I kind of had airs on my mind and tried a couple that I didn’t pull together, then I got that one and I’m stoked I landed it.”

Finally rankings leader Mick Fanning made is heat through to Round 4 and will be looking to seal his 3rd world title today. But with Parko, Taj and Jordy all still in the mix, the final day of competition promises to be a compelling show. Head over to the Rip Curl Pro live webcast here.

UPCOMING RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS), Julian Wilson (AUS)
Heat 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), John John Florence (HAW), Mick Fanning (AUS)
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Nat Young (USA), Josh Kerr (AUS)
Heat 4: Miguel Pupo (BRA), C.J Hobgood (USA), Taj Burrow (AUS)

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 3 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.84 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 11.77
Heat 2: Kai Otton (AUS) 12.57 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.77
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.00 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.16
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.20 def. Adriano De Souza (BRA) 13.73
Heat 5: John John Florence (HAW) 16.97 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 8.83
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.00 def. Jacob Willcox (AUS) 11.53
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.33 def. Frederico Morais (PRT) 12.60
Heat 8: Nat Young (USA) 15.10 def. Sebastien Zietz (HAW) 6.03
Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.67 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 8.83
Heat 10: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 15.40 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 8.67
Heat 11: C.J Hobgood (USA) 13.50 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.30
Heat 12: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.33 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 8.67

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 2 RESULTS:


Heat 5: C.J Hobgood (USA) 10.34 def. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 8.00
Heat 6: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 8.03 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 6.33

Heat 7: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.66 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 8.10
Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.10 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 11.13
Heat 9: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.83 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 8.33
Heat 10: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 16.26 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 14.27
Heat 11: Adam Melling (AUS) 13.84 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 10.37
Heat 12: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.60 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 13.93