- Tomás equals Luís Perloiro at the top of the men’s ranking;
- Surfer from Ericeira achieves sixth victory in the MEO Surf League and third in the northern stage.
- Teresa’s eighth victory in Porto and Matosinhos is worth her rise to the women’s leadership;
- Frederico Morais and Maria Salgado were the defeated finalists.
Tomás Fernandes and Teresa Bonvalot won this Sunday at the Somserby Porto Pro, the second MEO Surf League 2025 stage. In the men’s event, Tomás’s victory helped him equal Luís Perloiro at the top of the ranking. In the women’s event, Teresa’s triumph allowed her to overtake Francisca Veselko at the top of the ranking and in the race for the national title.
After an early morning call at Leça da Palmeira beach, the women’s event was the first to go into the water with round 2. Just like the previous day, Francisca Veselko and Teresa Bonvalot were the great dominators of this phase of the event, but this time, with a slight advantage for Kika.
However, in the semifinals, Maria Salgado showed herself available to reverse the course of events, causing surprise by eliminating Francisca Veselko in the first heat. Teresa Bonvalot was thus left with an open door to the top of the ranking, but she had to sweat to beat Gabriela Dinis in the other semi-final, achieving it in the last wave of the competition.
Even so, Teresa had to win the final to grab the yellow Go Chill lycra. Despite the complicated conditions in the water, the 25-year-old surfer from Cascais started the decisive heat stronger. With 12.25 points, Bonvalot quickly took the lead, later holding off Maria Salgado’s final response, which did not go beyond 9.95 points.
An outcome that gave Teresa Bonvalot the lead in the rankings, but also her 28th victory in stages of the MEO Surf League and her eighth in the northern stage. It was precisely in this event that he won the first stage of his career, in 2013, at just 13 years old. Teresa is now “only” 12 triumphs away from reaching the record of the historic Patrícia Lopes, with 39 victories in stages of the national surfing circuit.
“It’s always great to compete in Porto and Matosinhos, whether you win or lose,” began the reigning national champion. “The goal in the races I enter is always to give my best and take the victory, but that is not always possible. The conditions were difficult, but I am very happy with this triumph”, stressed Teresa.
In the men’s competition, everything started to be defined from the quarter-finals, where Jaime Veselko beat Martim Nunes to secure the first semi-finals of his career in the MEO Surf League. Afterwards, very balanced duels followed, with Tomás Fernandes beating Halley Batista and João Mendonça beating Francisco Almeida. The round ended with Frederico Morais’ victory against Joaquim Chaves.
In the semifinals, the ranking leadership accounts were in full swing, and João Mendonça needed to advance one more heat to guarantee the yellow Go Chill jersey, while Tomás Fernandes hoped that this would not happen, still having to be the winner of the event. Tomás started by eliminating Jaime Veselko in the semifinals, after a very close battle, while Frederico Morais overcame a very heated duel with João Mendonça.
The decisive heat started with an excellent score from Tomás, with 8 points, with Kikas‘ response falling a little short. In the middle of the heat, the surfer from Ericeira achieved another high score, with 7.80 points, and left Frederico needing a very high requirement. Until the end, nothing changed, and Tomás Fernandes managed to repeat the triumph obtained last year in this stage, also ensuring his rise to the top of the ranking, tied on points with Luís Perloiro.
“I’m very happy”, began Tomás Fernandes, who achieved his sixth career victory in stages of the MEO Surf League and his third in this stage. “I just wanted to show my best surfing in the final. I’m happy because this place is special to me. Kikas is by far the best surfer here, and he’s coming off an injury. He’s an incredible surfer, a friend, and competing with him and winning this final means a lot to me,” said the 29-year-old surfer from Ericeira.
Somersby Porto Pro final results:
Men’s final: Tomás Fernandes 15.80 points x Frederico Morais 13.50 points
Women’s final: Teresa Bonvalot 12.25 points x Maria Salgado 9.95 points
Prio Best Wave: Teresa Bonvalot, 9.50 points
Bom Petisco Girls Score: Teresa Bonvalot, 17.50 points
Waversby Round: João Mendonça, 13.65 points
Expression Session: Halley Batista
With a tie at the top of the men’s hierarchy, Tomás Fernandes and Luís Perloiro decided to “draw lots” to see who would hold the yellow Go Chill jersey, with Tomás heading to the next stage of the MEO Surf League, the Allianz Ericeira Pro, which takes place from 16 to 18 May, in Ribeira d’Ilhas, in yellow.
All stages can be followed live on Sport TV, as well as on other official channels: MEO Facebook, MEO app – available at position 810 on the MEO channel grid, at www.ansurfistas.com and social media at @ansurfistas.
The MEO Surf League 2025 is an organisation of the National Surfers Association, with the sponsorship of MEO, Somersby, Allianz Seguros, Bom Petisco, Go Chill, Corona, Prio, the sustainability partner Jerónimo Martins, Quiksilver, the local support of the Municipalities of Porto and Matosinhos and the technical support of Onda Pura Surf Centre and the Portuguese Surfing Federation.
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