Hawaii’s Carissa Moore captured the Roxy Pro France championship on Saturday in the second to last World Surf League event of the year in Hossegor, France.
The three-time world champion wrapped up the contest with a 16.70 to 14.50 win over Lakey Peterson of Santa Barbara, Calif., in clean 3- to 5-foot surf.
The win moved Moore up three spots on the WSL women’s rankings to No. 4. She will be chasing No. 1 Sally Fitzgibbons, No. 2 and defending world champ Tyler Wright, both of Australia, and No. 3 Courtney Conlogue of Huntington Beach, Calif., in the WSL finale, the Maui Women’s Pro at Honolua Bay, Nov. 25 to Dec. 6.
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore, a six-time world champ, is also in contention for the 2017 tour championship.
In the Quiksilver Pro France men’s contest Saturday, Brazil’s Gabriel Medina surfed to victory.
Medina, who won a world title in 2014, defeated Hawaii’s Sebastian Zietz in the final, 16.00 to 9.30.
Medina took down Hawaii’s John John Florence, the defending men’s world champ, 16.40 to 16.00 in a semifinal matchup.
With his quarterfinal finish, Florence moved past South Africa’s Jordy Smith to No. 1 in the men’s rankings. Medina is No. 3, and five others are in contention for the 2017 title — No. 4 Owen Wright, No. 5 Julian Wilson and No. 6 Matt Wilkinson of Australia, and No. 7 Adriano de Souza and No. 8 Filipe Toledo of Brazil.
Two contests remain on the men’s world tour — the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal (Oct. 20-31) and the Billabong Pipeline Pro (Dec. 8-20) at Ehukai Beach on Oahu’s North Shore.
The Billabong Pipeline Pro is also the finale of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing that also includes the Hawaiian Pro (Nov. 12-24) at Alii Beach Park in Haleiwa and the Vans World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25 to Dec. 6) at Sunset Beach. The latter two contests do not have a bearing on the world title chase.
