Can’t wave bye to Medina just yet

Brazil’s Gabriel Medina sent a nice little message to the five others in the World Surf League title race with a brilliant performance on Wednesday.

“Now people can’t say I don’t have a chance,” the 2014 world champion said after pulling off what had seemed impossible just a minute before.

Time was running out in the final heat of the day in the third round of the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach. About 30 seconds remained, in fact. All of a sudden, Medina picked off what looked to be a sloppy wave and nearly ran over competitor Connor O’Leary on his bubbly, whitewater takeoff. Medina briefly looked back to see if O’Leary was OK and then went down the line. The wave stood up and Medina patiently worked it with a few turns and cutbacks before a big gouge off the top, followed by a high-wire act of a 10-foot-long floater and a huge air drop back down to the face. He arched his back and somehow kept his legs planted on the board and came out of it without wiping out.

That wave scored an 8.77 and saved Medina from elimination in the contest, and even though he placed second in the heat to fellow Brazilian Deivid Silva, it was the 21-year-old Medina who received all the attention after the paddle in. If he can pull off a stunt like that at the tour-ending event at Pipeline later this month, he just may be able to grab his second straight world crown.

“I was needing a 5.0, so I had to go” said Medina, who holds the No. 4 ranking on the world tour. “I made two turns … the last one was a big one and then the floater and the gnarly landing. It’s one of the toughest places to catch waves, so I was fortunate to get the last one.”

Mick Fanning, the tour’s top-ranked surfer, made it through to the fourth round with a second-place finish, as did world-title contender and fellow Australian Julian Wilson. Fanning will be going for his fourth world title at Pipeline. Third-ranked Adriano de Souza of Brazil was eliminated from the contest Wednesday, but he’ll also be at Pipe with a chance to win the world crown. Second-ranked Filipe Toledo of Brazil, who did not enter the Sunset contest, is also very much in the big chase.

Tahiti’s Michel Bourez had two huge scoring rides, a 9.60 and a 9.00, in his heat win, and Australia’s Jack Freestone scored a 10.00 early in the day by somehow escaping out of a gigantic barrel.

Hawaii’s John John Florence, Dusty Payne and Makuakai Rothman advanced to the fourth round (scheduled for today, surf permitting) of the Vans World Cup, which is the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Wade Carmichael won the Hawaiian Pro, the first leg, last month. In addition to the world tour’s final stop, the Pipe Masters (Dec. 8-20) serves as the series finale, when the best surfer of the three events combined will emerge as the Triple Crown winner.