Much to the pleasure of the local crowd, in a last-minute change, Portuguese surfer and rising talent Matias Canhoto, 17, from Peniche, was invited to participate in the Supertubes event as a wild card replacement for injured eleven times world-champion Kelly Slater.

Another wild card invitation was extended to Portugues national champion Joaquim Chaves, 20, from Lisbon.

The two wildcards joined Frederico Morais to make three Portuguese surfers competing in the event.

In the third heat, Canhoto, battling with Callum Robson and veteran Griffin Colapinto, advanced to the next stage after Griffin Colapinto received a penalty for a priority infraction.

In the sixth heat, Joaquim Chaves, competing against Crosby Colapinto and last year’s finalist Jack Robinson who scored the wave of the day, failed to qualify and will find himself fighting to survive in the elimination round.

Portugal's championship tour representative, Frederico Morais, participated in the 12th and last heat of the day in deteriorating surf conditions and advanced with the highest heat score after a solid performance.

Credits: Supplied Image; Author: Yariv Kav;

“It was hard work,” said Morais, “I had fun, found two good scores and advanced to the next round, so happy. Having the support of my family and being here in Portugal is incredible.”

Some fan favourites, including Gabriel Medina, Griffin Colapinto and Kanoa Igarashi, surprisingly find themselves in the elimination round, which is up next. However, due to stormy conditions predicted for the next few days, competitors will have some time to rest as the competition will only resume once conditions improve, hopefully by Sunday.

For more information on when the competition resumes, tune in to the Next Call on the World Surf League website, which is scheduled for 8 March at 07:30 a.m.

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Author

With a passion for surfing and writing, Yariv Kav moved to Portugal´s wave capital from his native Israel. He was awarded a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Manchester back when Oasis was still cool, and a diploma with distinction from the London School of Journalism in Feature and Freelance Writing. Loves travel, languages and human stories.

Yariv Kav