Surfing-Bryan, Pupo kick off season with wins at Bells Beach

April 11 (Reuters) - Hawaii's Gabriela Bryan took her fifth World Surf League championship tour win at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Australia on Saturday, beating reigning world champion Molly Picklum to take an early lead in the 2026 world tour.

Brazilian veteran Miguel Pupo claimed his first Bells trophy with a hard-fought win over countryman and 2025 world champion Yago Dora on the men's side as the world tour marked its 50th year in style.

"I can't believe it man, I was dreaming about this moment," an emotional Pupo said. "So much hard work. Age 34, 14 seasons, and if you were to tell me I'll be number one in the world today, I'll probably laugh at you."

Bryan, known as the most powerful surfer on the women's tour, was a picture of high-quality consistency throughout the contest, scoring above 15 points out of a possible 20 in each of the earlier rounds.

In the final, the Hawaiian quickly notched a 7.83 for a series of heavy carves on her forehand and backed it up with a seven-pointer to put the pressure on Australian Picklum, whose first few waves were sub-par scores.

Picklum, with just a 8.33 heat score total, could only laugh as Bryan took a victory lap wave late in the contest and mimed ringing the famous bell trophy awarded to champions.

"I can't believe I get to ring the bell," Bryan said. "I obviously always wanted to win this contest, but I somehow have never gotten better than a quarter(-final). But, man, I get to ring it - it's insane."

Bells is professional surfing's longest-running event, now in its 63rd year, and most coveted by surfers.

It is famed for its powerful Southern Ocean swells, for introducing the ubiquitous thruster surfboards now used by almost all top tour surfers, and for its AC/DC soundtrack "Hell's Bells" that kicks off the action each morning.

Saturday's finals day began with well-groomed walls at the back-up venue of Winkipop, just down from Bells proper, and the Brazilian men dominating to take three of the four semi-finals spots.

Pupo comfortably took down the in-form Californian Griffin Colapinto in the first semi-final but Dora looked like the man to beat after a clutch win against three-time world champion Gabriel Medina in their semi-final matchup.

With less than a minute remaining and needing a near-perfect 9.34 out of 10, Dora blasted some big turns on his backhand before soaring to the air, spinning a clean full rotation for a 9.5 and the win.

Even Medina was impressed, congratulating his countryman with a hug and a smile on the beach.

In the final, Pupo got the edge in the first exchange of waves, notching up a 7.5 to Dora's 6.17 as the two goofy-footers traded blows. Dora quickly reclaimed the momentum and the lead with a 7.73 for a series of smooth carves and explosive hits of the lip.

It took a couple of attempts, but Pupo turned the heat with 10 minutes to spare, racking up an excellent 8.10 as he slid the tail of his board through some big turns.

Dora got another chance with 15 seconds remaining but could not repeat his earlier heroics and ended with a 13.90 total to Pupo's 15.60.