Haleiwa, Oahu/HAWAII — (Sunday, November 24, 2019) – Portugal’s Frederico Morais (PRT) won the Hawaiian Pro today with sure-footed power surfing and a veteran edge over Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Matthew McGillivray (ZAF) and Ethan Ewing (AUS) who placed second, third and fourth respectively in the Final at Haleiwa Ali’i Beach. Today’s victory cements Morais’ status back on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) and the lead on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title race. The Hawaiian Pro is the second-to-last Men’s WSL Qualifying Series (QS) 10,000 event and first gem of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, which now moves to Sunset Beach for the Vans World Cup of Surfing.
Morais’ career launched in 2016 when he scored back-to-back runner-up results at the Hawaiian Pro and Vans World Cup and qualified for his first run on the CT. That same year he ranked third in the Vans Triple Crown title race, but today’s achievement is a career-best. He needed to place third or higher in the Hawaiian Pro to guarantee a place back among the world’s best and after gaining 10,000 points today, Morais jumped up five spots and is now sitting No. 1 on the QS.
“It’s so good to be back in Hawaii,” Morais said. “After three finals, two second places, a fourth place, it definitely feels good to win and to be back here in Hawaii and back on tour, that was my main goal this year. It was a really tough one last year when I couldn’t fight back at Pipeline with an injury on my ankle. Coming back this year has been an amazing journey.”
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