Australian surfer Julian Wilson won a dramatic final in the Tahiti leg of the World Surf League Championship Tour.
ADVERTISEMENTAustralian surfer Julian Wilson won a dramatic final in the Tahiti leg of the World Surf League Championship Tour.
Wilson took on Gabriel Medina in the final with his Brazilian rival gaining an early lead with a highly impressive combined scored of 17.87 out of 20.
The Australian had to strike back with big scores of his own and did so with an 8.10, 9.23 and a near-perfect 9.73 for the win in the last minute of the final.
A win in Tahiti saw Wilson move up from 8th to 5th place in the overall league table.
Earlier in the day Wilson had beaten Jordy Smith in the semi-final, although the South African is top of the overall leaderboard.
Other title contenders, including U.S. surfer John John Florence and Australians Owen Wright and Matt Wilkinson were elimnated earlier in the day but remain high in the overall league table.
(with agencies)