Morais passed the third, fourth and fifth rounds, always with the best score of his heat, beating three surfers from the top-10 of the world ranking, the Brazilian Ítalo Ferreira (sixth), the Japanese Kanoa Igarashi (seventh) and the American Kelly Slater (10th).

Kikas is also the European surfer in the best position to win the Olympic qualifiers, because the three remaining opponents - German Leon Glatzer, Spanish Vicente Romero and Italian Angelo Bonomielli - still have to compete in the play-offs and so they are at a great disadvantage compared to Kikas.

The World Cups give places for the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games to the four best male surfers from Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania, once the American continent's place was defined in the Pan American Games and was won by Peru.

Kikas' scored 10.53 points in the third round, beating the Salvadoran Brian Perez, the Indonesian Ketut Agos Aditya and the German Lenni Jensen, repeating it in the fourth round, which he won with 10.83, beating Slater (9.34), 11 times world champion, and the British Jay Quinn (8.56), European champion.

In the fifth round, Kikas raised the bar, finishing with a score of 13.83, ahead of Ítalo Ferreira (13.7), Costa Rican Carlos Munoz (12.73) and Igarashi (7.53).

In the sixth qualifying round, equivalent to semi-finals, Kikas will meet Slater - who finished second in the heat won by the Portuguese - and compatriot of the best surfer ever Kolohe Andino, world number three.

Miguel Blanco lost in the third round, in which he finished third in his heat, with 9.53 points, behind Medina and the Indonesian Rio Waida, confirming the elimination in the play-offs, in which he finished in the same place, with 11.33, beaten by Peruvian Tomas Tudela and the Japanese Shun Murakami.