You thought it was done, didn’t you?
You thought that, after the controversy at Surf Ranch, in which the top three Brazilian male surfers in the world banded together to call out the World Surf League’s judging panel for unfair scores and unclear criteria, that it would all blow over…right?
Think again. That controversy, like a chronic cold sore, has resurfaced following the final at the Surf City Pro El Salvador. But this time, it looks a little different.
After the final in El Salvador, it seemed as if order was restored. Filipe Toledo beat Griffin Colapinto in a rematch of last year’s event. The Brazilians were back on top. No more “favoring” non-Brazilian surfer, for whatever reason. However, surf fans flipped the script, and continued the vitriol towards the WSL judging panel – although this time, claiming Filipe was overscored.
Amidst the 200-plus comments on the YouTube vid recap of the final, here’s a selection of the critical comments:
“I am a Felipe fan and it’s too obvious the overcompensation of numbers in this heat! At least the best surfer in this what won!”
“Well done Filipe great surfing and the win, overscored on the 9 but still deserved to win the final”
“Felipe clearly won the heat but come on that was overscored. These WSL judges criteria is ridiculous.”
“Filipe definitely won this heat, easily. BUT, I feel like the judges were way over-scoring. Maybe they were compensating for the scoring travesty that occurred in this same matchup, at the surf ranch.”
“Wow Felipe a 9 for 3 slashy turns. Time for the Non Brazilian surfers to storm the judges tower”
“Filipe’s 9 and Griff’s 7.17 should have been scored almost equally. The best wave of the heat by far was Toledo’s 8.3. These judges are incompetent and should have to show us and the surfers how they arrived at these ridiculous scores.”
“Filipe was overscored but definitely deserved the win unlike the surf ranch where Griffin was overscored but didnt deserve the win.”
“I am a Filipe fan but he got seriously over-scored.”
There’s more. Many, many more.
So, although most agreed that Filipe won the final against Griff, the consensus is that there was still some overscoring going down. This time, in favor of Filipe. Was it to compensate for the hullabaloo at Surf Ranch? Perhaps. Or perhaps surf fans have swapped their floppy mesh sun caps and cuffed beanies for tinfoil hats.
But one thing’s for certain, things will get really interesting when the tour heads to its next stop, Brazil. Home turf for controversy and rabid fans. The drama continues at the VIVO Rio Pro, which kicks off June 23rd – July 1st. Stay tuned.
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