Bonvalot Topples Bryan as Portugal Strikes at Supertubos

Teresa Bonvalot eliminated #1 Gabriela Bryan in the women's Opening Round of the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal on Friday, beating the Hawaiian 11.40-10.93 at Supertubos in Peniche. Francisca (Kika) Veselko joined her in the quarterfinals with an 8.54-7.90 win over #3 Sawyer Lindblad, giving the home crowd two Portuguese women among the final eight after a single day of competition. Yolanda Hopkins, the third Portuguese woman in the draw, went out against reigning world champion Molly Picklum despite riding the best single wave of the women's day.

The event is the 10th stop of the Championship Tour and the first of the postseason, moved to October after several years as a March fixture. The women's postseason field is cut to 16, the top 14 in the rankings plus two additions, which made the Opening Round a set of eight head-to-head heats. Winners went straight to the quarterfinals and losers left the event in ninth place. Organizers took advantage of hollow, high-quality waves and a favorable wind to complete the entire women's round along with the first two men's rounds.