In a dramatic 14 minute final with Philip Köster facing Marcilio Browne it was to be Köster’s near perfection that saw him take down the 2013 World Champion, Browne.

Both opening their heats with identical double forwards it was to be the waves that counted and soon enough Köster clocked a 7.25 wave, just shy of the excellent range, to count as his back-up wave. Moments later Browne followed suit with his own back-up wave. During the middle part of the heat we saw further attempts at stalled double forwards and the highlight of this single elimnation final with a perfect 10 ride form Philip Köster, not only did he stick a few decent turns but he also nailed a faultless frontside 360 landing right on the lip and air-dropping to the bottom before following up with a few cutties on the inside.

It wasn’t over until the buzzer as Browne was able to nail a 8.50 ride, needing a 9.5 to secure the win. Unfortunately the waves didn’t emerge for Browne and despite his best effort it was Köster who took the single elimination win and potentially the event win as it’s a long way off before we may see Köster on the water again.

Nevertheless the double elimination will be run and should conditions hold throughout the day then we can expect to see the double elimination final towards the later part of today. In the meantime there will be plenty of big heats, with a few clearly wanting to charge back through.

Watch the double elimination live here.