Cronulla Rookie World Tour surfer Connor O'Leary advanced to Round Four of the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal after defeating fellow Australian Adrian Buchan in Heat 5 of Round Three at Supertubos, Peniche, Portugal.
O’Leary scored a near perfect 9.40 point ride (out of a possible 10.00) to win the heat with a total heat score of 15.73 points (out of a possible 20.00) this morning (Sydney time)
It didn't look good yesterday for O’Leary after another first round flop, going down in a low scoring Heat 10 to Brazilian Miguel Pupo who top scored with an 8.00,American Kolohe Andino finished second with a 6.66 leaving Connor in third with a 5.17
After two consecutive 25 th places and the loss of his Tour Rookie lead it was all on the line for O’Leary in his ‘do or die’ second round against Brazilian Ian Gouveia but Connor blasted back scoring two decent waves to win with 10.70 over Gouveia’s 5.97.
Frederico Morais (PRT) and Connor then both made it out of Round 3, to keep the Rookie of the Year race increasingly close and with only one more event after Peniche, every point taken in Portugal will be crucial to claim the coveted title by year’s end.
“It was a great battle and we both managed to get some good scores, which was great,” O’Leary said
“It’s been a good year from me. I had a little slump on the last two events, but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m a rookie and I have a lot to learn. I’m stoked to get a few results earlier this year so I don’t have to worry too much about the QS.”
The second last contest on the World Surf League Championship Tour , the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, had resumed in excellent waves again as Supertubos delivered six-to-eight foot barrels all-day for the World’s best to perform and with five of the eight contenders bowing out early in Peniche, the door is open for John John Florence (HAW) to potentially claim back-to-back World Titles .
