Alyssa Spencer and Gabriel Medina win the Saquarema Pro! Yumeji Tsuzuki achieved 3rd place, the highest ever for a Japanese player!

Rip Curl's Alyssa Spencer and Gabriel Medina topped the podium at Corona Saquarema Pro.

The road to victory was not easy for both.

Spencer , who was aiming to qualify for the 2023 Championship Tour, has earned four first places in this season's Qualifying Series, moved up the Challenger Series rankings, and is well on his way to qualifying for the final event of the season in Hawaii. I challenged Saquarema in search of.

Spencer showed no signs of backing down in Round 1, taking on the experienced Australian Keely Andrew in the quarter finals and winning against Japan's Rip Curl team rider Yumuji Tsuzuki in the semi finals.
Although Yumeji Tsuzuki was defeated, he finished in 3rd place, the highest ever for a Japanese player!

In the final, Spencer defeated France's Tessa Thyssen in unstable conditions to claim her first Challenger Series win.

With this performance, Spencer has moved up eight spots on the Challenger Series leaderboard and currently sits in 6th place, one spot below the cut line. The final race of the 2022 Challenger Series will be the Haleiwa Challenger, which begins at the end of November.

Meanwhile, for Medina, winning at Saquarema marked a return to competition after a long injury-related hiatus. Medina, who had been out of competition for more than 130 days, captivated the crowd in the first heat and came away with a stunning victory under pressure in the final.

In the first heat, he faced up-and-coming players Crosby Colapinto, Kev Butler, and Gabriel Klausner. However, Medina successfully conquered these three next-generation players and maintained his momentum until the final.

Medina defeated France's Maxime Husnot in the quarterfinals and was pressured by Brazil's Joao Chianca in the semifinals, but Medina withstood the pressure and advanced.

In the final match against Morocco's Ramzi Bouhiam, who is looking to qualify for the 2023 Championship Tour, Medina fell behind early on, before Ramzi Bouhiam gained the upper hand with 10 minutes remaining. However, he made a slight priority error and Medina then converted two mid-range scores, with the three-time world champion celebrating in style on the beach.

Gabriel Medina's next fight will likely be during the 2023 Championship Tour season, which kicks off at Pipeline in late January.

Photos courtesy WSL