"It's my oldest daughter's birthday today and I'm bringing her home the Bell."
The Brazilian journeyman Miguel Pupo, a surfer who has long struggled to keep his place on the world tour, has led the Brazilian charge, as they call it, or Storm or Hurricane, depending on your meteorological preference, to win the first-ever all-Brazilian final at the Bells Beach Pro.
It was the first time two goofyfooters had surfed in a final at Bells in 35 years, since Damien Hardman and Barton Lynch duked it out in 1991.
In fairytale scenes, Miguel Pupo, who is thirty-four and the daddy of four children, left the reigning world champ Yago Dora electric with terror and squirming like a bacha baz naked under his robe, easily winning the hundred gees or whatever the first place cheque is.
Serial weeper Pupo said, “I was dreaming about this moment and, at the age of thirty four, after fourteen seasons, if you’d tell me I was number one in the world today I would laugh at you,” he said.
Pupo said he’d been hitting the gym three times a day and only resting on the Christian sabbath.
“I feel like I’m living my career in reverse, starting not so well and finishing strong,” he said. “It’s my oldest daughter’s birthday today and I’m bringing her home the Bell.”
Cue tears etc.
