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COURTESY ASP
John John Florence of Oahu placed equal ninth at the 2013 Rip Curl Pro Portugal, reaching the Round 5 where he was eliminated by Kai Otton. Florence gained some ground toward a possible second world championship in a row Sunday with a 14.74 to 13.73 third-round victory over wild card Vasco Ribeiro of Portugal in the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.
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Hawaii’s John John Florence gained some ground toward a possible second world championship in a row Sunday with a 14.74 to 13.73 third-round victory over wild card Vasco Ribeiro of Portugal in the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.
Florence, No. 1 in the World Surf League rankings, faces Kolohe Andino of San Clemente, Calif., and Connor O’Leary of Australia in the fourth round when the competition resumes today, conditions permitting, at Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal.
Eight surfers are still in the chase for the world championship, with only the Billabong Pipe Masters at Ehukai Beach (Dec. 8-20) remaining after the Portugal contest concludes. Five of those eight were bounced from the Portugal event, putting a crimp on their title hopes — South Africa’s Jordy Smith (No. 2), Australia’s Owen Wright (No. 4) and Matt Wilkinson (No. 5), and Brazil’s Adriano de Souza (No. 7) and Filipe Toledo (No. 8).
Two world-title contenders — Brazil’s Gabriel Medina (No. 3) and Australia’s Julian Wilson (No. 6) — won their third-round heats to join Florence in the fourth round.
Hawaii’s Sebastian Zietz (No. 11), who does not have a shot at the title, also surfed into the fourth round. Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau and Mason Ho were eliminated in second-round losses.