April 20-28, 2023.
Gabriel Medina and Carissa Moore take home the top spots at the Margaret River Pro event in Western Australia with skillful surfing and great wave choice.
© Aaron Hughes/World Surf League
After pulling out of the 2022 Championship Tour due to injury in Brazil, Medina returned in 2023 with an out of character shaky start losing in round 16 in 4 consecutive starts, but that didn't phase the world-class rider here in Western Australia. Notably John-John Florence put down an insane performance in the first few rounds getting consecutive best waves, but the focus and commitment of Medina gave him the edge in the final rounds with him winning the event for the first time at Margaret River.
Taking on the final against Griffin Colapinto, both surfers went in strong with early 8 point waves and Medina put down a 9.5 killer shortly after, which Colapinto battled for but couldn't hold it all together on a big floater. Medina made no mistakes in the final, and came away with a well deserved win to add to his 16 other Championship Tour wins.
“It feels amazing, it’s a contest that I always struggled to win. I was really focused on that one. It’s a challenging wave, but I’m just happy to surf again, you know? I’ve been struggling for a few events this year. It was hard to get into a rhythm again. Now I feel like I’m back in competition.
“I’ve been having a good time here. I brought two good friends from home, and I have my coach here, Kingy [Andy King]. Just be patient. I knew it [a CT win] was gonna come. I had some tough losses, which put me down a little bit, but I’ve been working hard, enjoying my life and everything is paying off right now.” - Gabriel Medina
It may have been a slow start for Medina, but he is known for his strong second wind throughout the Championship Tour in the past, and this win won't likely be his last for the season. Next month he'll be hoping for a consecutive win at The Surf Ranch competition up against the world class line up of surfers.
In the women's championship Tyler Wright narrowly missed out to Carissa Moore in the final, and although it was a low scoring final which didn't quite reflect the great rounds prior, both surfers put in all they could and eventually it was Moore that took the win for her second of the 2023 CT season and 27th of her career.
This win for Moore puts her into 2nd position, close behind Wright with just over 2,000 points between them.
“I think it’s been 9 years since the last time I won out here, and I was beginning to think I couldn’t do it again. I truly have the best team behind me, with all my family and of course my husband. They gave me a lot of confidence going into final’s day.
“I’ve been here in Australia for about a month now, and it’s been 5 days since we’ve been waiting for this final, and a lot happens in those days. Trying to stay on top of things, trying to relax — but then you can’t [laughs] — so now it’s a sigh of relief, like: work’s done, and now we can go home and have a little reset.” - Carissa Moore
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