Gabriel Medina vs Griffin Colapinto | Fiji Pro Presented By Corona Cero 2026 - Semifinals

Yep going to live rankings here we can see at number six on the rankings moving up two spots Griffin Cola Pinto number four on the rankings Gabe Medina moving up a spot with his semi-final placement over here and also with one of the world's miracles of surfing Cloudbreak Reef Pass semi-final number two featuring Gabe Medina and Griffin Cola Pinto Gabe with the first wave of the semi-final looking smooth on these Cloudbreak walls stalls for inside pit gets the cover up extends it with a double arm drag more tube time for the three-time world champ Gabe Medina on a nice start here in semi-final number two Kuiper girl along with Flick Palmentier on the call Gabe Medina in 2026 here he is replay we're waiting for this score still Flick. First of all positioning so much deeper on the reef we know he likes to sit there probably about 20 meters between himself and Gabe but for me it's all about these little there's some nice moments on here obviously this tube is really the cool hero moment absolutely sets that up beautifully but for me it's those redirects back into the source to really make sure that it's just a cool little moment because the barrel itself was amazing but those redirects back into the pocket are just what sets him up this beautiful paced approach here at Cloudbreak and it's it's a really unique thing that we've seen the goose be able to do I think we saw even in the heat previous just he was able to actually grab rail talk about being in flow flow state here with Griffin Colapinto hooking on the backhand 2024 Fiji champ wants to do a repeat here at Cloudbreak and looking smooth as he has all competition long confident solid on his feet Griffin Colapinto looking to ride into the channel is going to get gobbled up but no problem the Red Bull Jet Ski will pick up Colapinto and deposit him back on top of the reef looking towards the foam and it's just something unique it's really nice to watch and then the opposite approach we've got a regular footer Griffin Colapinto I love breaking down both of these approaches beautifully paced really critical turn there and I just feel like both guys are looking very connected I just see that this these two guys bring the best out of each other you check out the max heat score and the max single wave it's incredible Griffin up wave number two for the surfer out of San Clemente paced approach confident approach solid surfing tosses the fins there and makes a near impossible turns there is not much downtime and I feel like that's why we had the separation between that first exchange just look at this float there is no chatter there's no bauble it's just one turn into the next okay granted here you need to find a bit of space to punch that turnout but incredibly difficult section to choose that kind of maneuver to be able to punch the fins out that I mean basically did a grind on the lip there and it most people who you're not even looking at that kind of turn choice there but for Griff it's no worries like the the choice of maneuver on a section like that is really difficult most people are going around that going around that and doing a car in skateboarding we call it a backside disaster it's a backside disaster here we go Medina back in the lineup wants to answer back needs to answer back carves off the top on the cabianca looking smooth on the rail there trying to catch up to this section lining up for the inside barrel section and Gabe still searching for something's gonna have to go for some turns here stalls off the bottom hooks it off the top looking to park it parks it for a little bit of a cover up and kicks out just a bigger wave here but also just really great surfing again this big section big turn air drops out of it and then he kind of he's forced to wait a little bit here just maybe ever so slightly caught around it he does get there I feel like it maybe won't better that 617 that's my initial thoughts still great surfing still continuing on with that flow state and and here we go with Gabe patient down the line looking for a spot to carve hangs on to the rail of that surfboard looking to park it and pulling in driving through this section another section another section more for Medina and Medina comes out of another long barrel wow you can see it happening take it down Medina are you kidding me uh let's break it down this is this was absolutely epic this setup just beautiful bottom turn grab rail carve all the traditionalists are screaming around the world and then the big setup this is what he's been waiting for you can see him pre-empting it down the line this thing there is so many amazing waves out there this morning and Gabe has just found another one you know you've got to be reflecting back to what's been dropped already this morning for sort of similar waves similar tubes he had the beautiful setup into this one kind of had all the right elements and then you can really just see from this channel angle how deep he is in the tube so let's watch him pump here a few times he's changed the angle already three times that's the third pump it loses him here i'm sure there's okay let's break it down i love this angle you see all the boats in the foreground massive tube in the background and Gabe just working his way through this barrel this thing was really really epic and you know wave selection Medina now now this is when we see the three he's under priority and he can just he can just get under your skin at times Kola Pinto looking to come back here it's not going to wait for too long dragging the body through that first section gets barreled through the second section he's got more on offer down the line looking waiting and just has to go for some turns and this wave although surf well will not be the 9.11 that Griffin's looking for now he controlled to Gabe Medina the lead and priority at the 14 minute mark he's searching for a nine right so it's got to have that same feel as what Gabe's did you know just from the sheer size you reflect back to the nine that Gabe had you look at the size of this wave and what's already on offer you kind of already know that this isn't the score he's just i kind of just want to see him on you know the next best wave that comes through he needs to be on it and whether or not he can find semi-final two in the water Griffin Kola Pinto taking off on this bomb at cloud break Kola Pinto trailing Gabe Medina in this semi-final and Griff looking for a barrel looking for opportunity allow the San Clemente surfer anything our leader Gabe Medina in the barrel again disappearing act reappear stalls through another bottom turn inside section for Medina can he thread through another barrel and the answer is of course he can in out working magic Medina magic at the moment and Gabe kicking out flying away already has a 9.77 in his score line it's obvious man it is it's a hard task at the moment with the flow he's in but the second way the set uh Griff went that first one this one really groomed really beautiful I just keep loving the awareness of that little fade into the setup inside throaty tube section here it is just impeccable right like he's got this wave on lock the wave selection is really good and it he's going to be a hard one to stop right now he's also tapped into that crazy scary flow that we see him get into and it almost looks like hey I'm untouchable right now and you know things are you know he's going to make this incredibly difficult for uh for Griff right now I'm sensing a big two-wave combination coming Griff's way he's at it again here we go Medina one more time and one more shack for the three-time world champ actually just getting through that section but and we absolutely love to see Gabe here we go again this one's just for fun for Gabe Medina just cruising winning kind of feeling it's almost as if he's just possessed right and he's showing that kind of juju right now Griffin Colapinto hey had a great uh South Pacific leg finaled in Tahiti semi-finals here in Fiji well done for Griffin Colapinto he can move to his home break uh for stop number nine on the championship tour at lowers with a lot of confidence coming out of this uh great South Pacific run for the San Clemente surfer oh totally the the momentum he's on and going into his home quarter trestles uh where we've seen him perform so well over the past I just feel like this has been really good for him uh he's put on some incredible performances but look out because Gabe's in another final out here at Fiji and he's going to be hard to stop Kaipo sure well Gabe Medina 19.04 nearly perfect execution in semi-final number two we're going to see Gabe Medina up against Cole Hauschman in the men's final we're anticipating that