Both had a point to prove, albeit at different ends of the rankings. Cole Houshmand came out on top in a dramatic, heavyweight battle of the backhands, sending Gabriel Medina into a frenzied rant about the quality of the judging on tour.
Coming into Bells sitting well below the mid-season cut line, Cole’s debut campaign in Victoria got off to a shaky start when he was convincingly beaten by Gabby and Liam O’Brien.
The goofy footer then narrowly scraped through the elimination round alongside his San Clemente counterpart Kade Matson. However, Cole saved his best surfing for when it mattered most, coming up against one of the fieriest competitors on tour in the round of 32. Despite being 6’3″ and over 90kg Cole looked nimble on his feet against a surfer he’d openly identified as a hero.
Coming into the heat Gabby had his own point to prove. Despite a positive 3rd place finish in Portugal, he sits 15th in the rankings and is yet to cement himself as a true title contender this year. The early exit at Bells does no favours for his campaign.
Cole landed the first significant blow in the heat, mentally ousting Gabby by beating him in a paddle battle – a play the three-time world champion has been known to use in order to instil fear in his opponents. However, the Brazilian was no match for the Californian with the super-hero rig.
This didn’t deter Gabby though as he seemed to surf himself into an early rhythm picking up a 6.67 and a 7.10 for his quick backhand attack. Cole responded with a pair of 6’s and went toe-to-toe with Gabby for the entire heat.
However, coming into the final few minutes, without priority, it looked like Cole was going to be sent home with another 17th place finish and an almost impossible mountain to climb to stay on tour. But in a fatal display of over-confidence, Gabby let Cole go on a slightly smaller wave and the American went to town smashing the lip multiple times, scoring a 7.47 and taking the win.
Following the win, Cole’s coach Luke Egan reminded him that he had just beaten his hero. Meanwhile the rest of the San Clemente crew erupted on the rocks, looking elated for their friend. However, the score did not sit well with Gabby who took to the mic after the heat and said: “This is the worst judging I’ve even seen. It’s bad for the sport.”
We all know he is not afraid to speak his mind but the question on everyone’s lips is: ‘does he have a point?’
The heat was really tight and it could have gone either way, some would argue that Cole displayed slightly more power and a better rail-to-rail transition, but others would vouch for Gabby’s wave choice and variety of maneuvers – all very fine margins which are critical when surfing at such a high level.
This is not the first time the quality of judging has been questioned this event. Spectators took to the internet earlier this week to argue that wildcard George Pittar should’ve beaten Ethan Ewing, who people felt had been over-scored on his final wave to give him the nod over the Manly local.
Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, we will all sit back and eagerly await the fallout from Gabby’s comments in the coming days.
