Brazilian surfing has six representatives in the round of 16 at the Australian Margaret River event, the second stop on the World Surf League (WSL) tour. In the opening round on Thursday (Apr. 16), Gabriel Medina, Yago Dora, Ítalo Ferreira, João Chianca, and brothers Miguel and Samuel Pupo advanced.

Three other Brazilians made an early exit from Margaret River: Matheus Herdy, Filipe Toledo, and Alejo Muniz. In total, the WSL features 36 surfers in the men’s competition and 24 in the women’s.

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The first to qualify, Samuel Pupo scored 15.50 (the sum of his two highest waves) against American Cole Houshmand (11.60). In the round of 16, he will face American Kanoa Igarashi.

In the seventh heat, three-time world champion Gabriel Medina dominated Mexico’s Alan Cleland. After finishing third at the Bells Beach event last week, Medina scored 13.16 to Cleland’s 8.50. His next opponent will be host Jack Robinson, a two-time winner of the event in 2024.

Brazilian Yago Dora, the current world champion, came out on top in his debut against Australian Jacob Willcox, scoring 13.67 to 12.93 in heat 9. Dora will face Australian-Japanese surfer Connor O’Leary in the round of 16.

In heat 11, two-time world champion Ítalo Ferreira (13.47) had a thrilling battle against Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam (13.33) and emerged victorious. The margin was just 0.14 points. The round of 16 will be an all-Brazilian matchup: Ítalo will face João Chianca, who advanced in the next heat by defeating American Jake Marshall 12.70 to 12.00.

The last Brazilian in action at Margaret River, Miguel Pupo, the ranking leader after his title at Bells Beach, easily defeated Australian Morgan Cibilic with a score of 12.83 to 6.90. In the round of 16, he will face another local surfer: Ethan Ewing.

Brazil also has Luana Silva competing in the women’s division. She will make her debut directly in round 2 against local favorite Sophie McCulloch.