Yago Dora’s victory in the 2023 Vivo Rio Pro has made him a household name. The Brazilian surfing superstar not only won the Brazilian WSL tournament, but he did it in grand fashion, ending the hopes of Australian surfer Ethan Ewing. The Vivo Rio Pro was no exception to the rule that there is some controversy at every WSL event. The controversy surrounding this tournament has followed it all the way to its conclusion, and it shows no signs of stopping at the Corona Open J-Bay in South Africa.

In the first round of the Corona Open J-Bay, Yago Dora utterly destroyed his competition. The World Surf League’s official social media accounts also shared content recognizing the Brazilian surfer’s remarkable feat. Those in the surfing world who had questions about the WSL’s scoring system are understandably outraged today.

Big moment sparking tons of questions

Yago Dora’s ride on wave 10 of the first round was featured as the “wave of the day” on WSL’s Instagram account. Dora’s flawless performance on the ideal wave made him the talk of the competition. The surfer got the ball rolling early and often in wave 1 by scoring 7 points while his opponents were scoreless. Connor O’Leary had 13.53 points (7.20 + 6.33) and Ian Gentil had 10.40 points (6.23 + 4.17) at the end of their rounds. While everyone else was celebrating the victory at the conclusion of Wave 10, Yago Dora pulled a sudden U-turn.

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The Brazilian surfer retained his momentum on the wave and headed towards the wave’s tip, avoiding a potential barrel ride. Yago Dora utilized a fantastic tip to launch himself into the air after catching it. Dora has come to win another competition in order to go for the yellow jersey; therefore, he did something surprising when he might have done a routine aerial. The surfer sprang out of the water and completed a full 360-degree horizontal flip, surprising even himself when he landed back in the water.

The judges gave the Brazilian surfer 9.27 points for this performance, sending him into the Bracket Stage of the Corona Open J-Bay with a total score of 16.27 (9.27 + 7.00). The score, however, failed to excite the surfing community.

The unhappy surfing community

Following the announcement of the Brazilian surfer’s score, the same long-standing debate in the surfing world emerged. People from all across the internet converged on the post’s comments area.

One netizen admitted that the trick was good but talked about the other perspective, saying, “Insane air, incredible precision! Definitely a 9.7 score for the maneuver, but for the whole wave? Surfing is more than this.” The same scoring controversy arises, as this comment reads: “Scoring is getting out of control lately. 10 exactly same carves winning progression on the ranch, and 1 progressive trick getting the highest score in a place like jBay. Makes zero sense.”

This user also pointed out the scoring issue, saying, “Only one maneuver for JBay? He missed many sections! Totally overscored for me!” A similar comment read, “Please do not give the highest score at one maneuver waves at JBay.”

The scoring debate has been ongoing for quite some time and is only growing in intensity. There has been no word from WSL on this, so supporters can only hold out hope.

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