Surfing-American Houshmand and back-to-back Brooks take Fiji Pro titles

Sept 3 (Reuters) - American Cole Houshmand took ⁠the Fiji Pro title ahead of Gabriel Medina in pumping conditions at the Cloudbreak ⁠reef on Thursday, while in-form Canadian teenager Erin Brooks earned a second straight world ‌tour title.

Californian Houshmand had lost six times in the first round this year but turned his season around by beating reigning world champion Yago Dora in the quarter-finals and Medina in the title-decider.

His victory in the final was all the ​more impressive for the fact that Brazilian Medina scored a ⁠perfect 10 with his first ride ⁠of the final in a six-to-eight foot swell.

"I went on the first wave and when I ⁠turned ‌back, he was just getting blown out of a perfect wave. I was thinking 'what have I done?'" said Houshmand.

Three-times world champion Medina failed to back up his first ride, however, ⁠and Houshmand ran out a 16.87-15.17 winner to take his ​third title in three years ‌on the elite tour.

"I'm pretty speechless. It never really goes the way you expect it," ⁠Houshmand said.

"But if ​you just put your head down and work hard, and have faith, it'll all work out."

Medina's second place moved him up to fourth in the standings, 6,840 points behind compatriot and championship leader Italo Ferreira with ⁠five rounds of the season to go.

Texas-born Brooks also ​landed a 10-point ride when the eighth stop of the tour kicked off last week and she kept up her fine form to claim back-to-back titles after her win at the Tahiti Pro in ⁠mid-August.

The 19-year-old beat five-times world champion Carissa Moore 11.84-9.97 in the semi-finals and clinched her second Fiji Pro title when Australian Isabella Nichols was unable to compete after suffering an injury.

"I love Bella like a sister and I was so (devastated) to hear she got injured," said Brooks.

"It's been unreal," she ​added of her last two events. "I was having a real shocker (of ⁠a season). I was having some disbelief in myself. I'm just so grateful to be where I ​am right now."

The two straight wins moved Brooks up to ‌eighth in the women's rankings, which are led ​by Hawaiian Moore.

The world tour next moves on to southern California for the Trestles Pro from September 11 to 20.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Thank you for your report!

9 月 3 日（路透社）——周四，在 Cloudbreak 礁石的强劲海浪中，美国选手 Cole Houshmand 击败 Gabriel Medina，夺得斐济职业冲浪赛冠军；与此同时，状态正佳的加拿大青少年选手 Erin Brooks 连续第二次获得世界巡回赛冠军。

加州选手胡什曼德今年六次在第一轮比赛中失利，但他扭转了赛季颓势，在四分之一决赛中击败了卫冕世界冠军亚戈·多拉，并在冠军争夺战中击败了梅迪纳。

巴西选手梅迪纳在决赛中首次冲浪就获得了满分 10 分，当时浪高 6 到 8 英尺，这使得他的胜利更加令人印象深刻。

“我冲上了第一道浪，当我转身回来时，他正被一个完美的浪头冲走。我当时想‘我做了什么？’”胡什曼德说道。

然而，三届世界冠军梅迪纳未能延续首轮的良好势头，胡什曼德以 16.87-15.17 的比分获胜，在精英巡回赛中连续三年夺得冠军。

“我简直无语了。事情的发展总是出乎意料，”胡什曼德说道。

“但只要你埋头苦干，保持信念，一切都会好起来的。”

梅迪纳获得第二名，使他的积分排名上升到第四位，落后同胞兼锦标赛领头羊伊塔洛·费雷拉 6840 分，而本赛季还剩下五轮比赛。

出生于德克萨斯州的布鲁克斯在上周巡回赛第八站开赛时也获得了 10 分，并且保持了良好的状态，继 8 月中旬在塔希提职业赛上夺冠后，又连续赢得了两个冠军头衔。

这位 19 岁的选手在半决赛中以 11.84-9.97 击败了五届世界冠军卡丽莎·摩尔，并在澳大利亚选手伊莎贝拉·尼科尔斯因伤无法参赛的情况下，夺得了她的第二个斐济职业赛冠军。

“我把贝拉视如亲姐妹，听到她受伤的消息，我非常难过，”布鲁克斯说。

“这简直太不可思议了，”她谈到最近两场比赛时补充道。“我经历了一个令人震惊的赛季。我甚至都不敢相信自己能做到现在这样。我真的非常感激自己能走到今天这一步。”

布鲁克斯连胜两场，排名升至女子排名第八，目前女子排名第一的是夏威夷选手摩尔。

世界巡回赛下一站将前往南加州，于 9 月 11 日至 20 日举行 Trestles Pro 赛事。

（悉尼 Nick Mulvenney 报道；Peter Rutherford 编辑）

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