Stephanie Gilmore led until the final two minutes of her semi-final of the World Surf League event at Supertubos in Portugal before losing to Lakey Peterson.
Stephanie Gilmore has missed a golden chance to spark her World Surf League season, losing in the final stages of the MEO Pro semi-finals in Portugal to Lakey Peterson.
The seven-time world champion paired 6.5 and 5.5-point waves in the first five minutes of their early-morning heat at Supertubos to apply the pressure.
But the American fired back with a heat-best 6.77 and then, with less than two minutes on the clock, produced a 5.57-point ride to pip Gilmore 12.35 to 12.
It was the third consecutive cliffhanger for the Australian, who had beaten compatriot Sally Fitzgibbons and then France's Johanne Defay to reach the final four.
The semi-final exit is a blow to Gilmore's hopes of reaching the season-ending five-person finals after she missed the season opener in Hawaii when she tested positive to COVID-19.
Peterson was beaten in the final with Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb confirming her dominance throughout the competition after overcoming Carissa Moore in their semi-final.
in the men's young Californian surfer Griffin Colapinto won his first WSL event, taking out Brazil's Filipe Toledo.
While the waves at the break of Supertubos in Peniche had dropped off from Sunday's heaving barrels it is famous for, there was still enough power on offer from the shallow sandbar for the surfers to showcase their skills.
No-one could have been happier with the smaller surf than Toledo, whose speed and precision of turns and vast array of aerials is tough to match when the waves are around head-high.
But Colapinto is no slouch in the air either, notching up the first perfect 10 point ride of the season so far in his quarter-final on Sunday with a giant, full rotation above the lip.
He dispatched a some-what out of sorts John John Florence, Hawaii's twice world champion, with another big high-flying spin in the second semi-final.
Colapinto, 23, caught the biggest waves of the final and surfed powerfully on his backhand to take a slender lead into the final few minutes before the ocean went flat, denying Toledo an opportunity to battle back.
"I can't believe what people have to go through to get to this win, it's as good as it gets," he said.
The Championship Tour next moves to Australia with Bells Beach and Margaret River hosting events in April.
- with Reuters
