Italo Ferreira wins the Raglan stage in New Zealand and takes the WSL world lead

Brazilian surfer Italo Ferreira won the title of the Nova Zelândia stage of Championship Tour on Sunday night. The 32-year-old athlete beat Australian Morgan Cibilic in the decisive heat on the Raglan beach with a score of 17.50 to 15.80 points. The result guaranteed the competitor from Rio Grande do Norte to lead the WSL 2026 season rankings for the first time this year.

The achievement marked the first trophy for the Olympic and world champion in the current season after four competitions. The athlete’s best performance to date had been a semifinal in Margaret River, in Austrália. The decisive day at Nova Zelândia was marked by a four-hour stoppage in the official schedule. The interruption occurred after a marine animal attack on a photographer who was in the water, forcing the organization to temporarily suspend the event to ensure the safety of the athletes.

Show of aerial maneuvers guarantees the top of the season

The Baía Formosa surfer used speed and progressive maneuvers to build an advantage in the big decision. In a sea that required high technical precision, the Brazilian performed a sequence of flights on the same wave to ensure the highest totals in the final. The judges evaluated the Potiguar’s two main presentations with scores of 9.33 and 8.17.

Australian opponent Morgan Cibilic kept the contest even until the final minutes, but was unable to overcome the rotations completed by the Brazilian on the left of the New Zealand beach. Este trophy represents the 11th victory of the athlete from Rio Grande do Norte in stages of the world elite’s main circuit. The victory in Raglan consolidated the surfer’s rise, who started the event occupying eighth place in the general classification.

Brazilian Domínio reaches the top four positions in the ranking

The update of the 2026 season ranking after the end of the event on Oceania confirmed the hegemony of the country’s athletes. The top of the table now features an exclusive sequence of competitors who form part of the group known as Brazilian Storm.

The configuration of the four best skippers in the world is in the following order:

• Italo Ferreira took first place overall with the title from Nova Zelândia.
• Miguel Pupo occupies second place in the season points table.
• Gabriel Medina dropped to third place in the championship after the stage ended.
• Yago Dora completes the group of the top four placed in the world circuit classification.

Three-time world champion Gabriel Medina lost the circuit lead after facing physical difficulties in Nova Zelândia. The competitor revealed that he participated in the heats feeling pain in his knee and competed worried about his physical integrity in the water. Para reached the final confrontation against the Australian Morgan Cibilic, the new leader of the ranking had to overcome his own compatriots in consecutive elimination heats in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the tournament.

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Carissa Moore wins in the female category and Luana Silva loses the lead

The dispute between the women in Nova Zelândia ended with the victory of the Hawaiian Carissa Moore in the decisive heats on the Raglan beach. The five-time world champion defeated the North American Sawyer Lindblad in a balanced final, with a score of 17.90 against 16.67 points for her opponent.

The Brazilian Luana Silva ended up being eliminated early in the round of 16 after a controversy involving the judgment of the priority rule when choosing waves. The negative result had a direct impact on the overall classification of the women’s season. The Brasil surfer lost her lead in the WSL world rankings and now occupies second place on the circuit.

Próximas world circuit stages have windows set for June

The closure of competitions at Oceania directs the surfing elite’s calendar to Américas in the coming months. Professional athletes are now preparing to take on the event in Punta Roca, located in El Salvador, in América Central. The official window for the heats to be held is scheduled for the period between June 5th and 15th.

Logo then, the main names in the sport arrive in the national territory for the Rio Pro dispute, which takes place on the traditional beach of Saquarema, in the state of Rio of Janeiro. The Brazilian competition is scheduled to take place between June 19th and 27th. The event on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro usually attracts tens of thousands of fans and will be essential for maintaining positions at the top of the rankings.