Gabriela Bryan takes down world number one at the MEO Rip Curl Portugal Pro

The women of the World Surf League were in the spotlight on Sunday in Peniche, Portugal. At a wave called Supertubos, the European leg of the Championship Tour set out to showcase the best surfers in the world and have the athletes creep that much closer to the mid-season cuts. Every year the WSL puts the athletes head to head to find the best among the top surfers and this year the competition is as steep as it has ever been, especially amongst the ladies. It is anyone's trophy to take on any given day.

Coming into the MEO Rip Curl Portugal Pro event, Molly Picklum was on top and wearing the yellow leader's jersey. She had two great showings in Hawaii to start off the season but met her match in the round of 16 on Sunday. She was matched up with Hawaiian surfer Gabriela Bryan in the first round of the bracket. Bryan was the underdog in the heat, up against the 2024 leader, but didn't let the potential pressure of a facing Picklum or a surfboard mishap mid-heat slow her down.

Bryan won her heat against Picklum with a score of 12.06 to 8.43. Immediately following her win she caught up with FanSided to discuss the win and more.

"I feel good," Bryan said. "It gives me a lot of confidence and hopefully I can carry this momentum into the next one. I know there's still a lot to go but I'm feeling really good and excited. "

During the heat, Bryan had a malfunction with her surfboard where one of the fins broke and she needed to quickly return to the beach to swap it out. In the meantime, Picklum was out in the water looking for a wave that could potentially take her into the lead. The wild events of that heat didn't rattle Bryan and instead, she took the opportunity of the quick trip to shore to regain her composure and have a brief chat with her coach.

"On one of the waves I ended up braking one of my fins, I felt it as soon as I took over the next wave, I felt it was super loose and it was missing but my coach was right there on the beach with my backup and it was a good little reset. He just told me do what I'm doing get back out there and close out the heat and it kind of worked out perfect," Bryan explained. "I just knew that if I played my game and got the right waves I could beat her. She's on fire right now and carrying a lot of momentum, so I'm really happy that I got through that one and make it on the final day."

This season has started off with a bang for the ladies of the WSL CT. The season began in Hawaii at the notorious Banzai Pipeline. The women showed that they could contend with the powerful and ever dangerous waves on the North Shore. Bryan sees the most talented field of female surfers this year on tour.

"The women did an amazing job and it was super cool to see the women be able to compete in those kinds of waves, perfect pipeline, which we don't get very often," she said. "It really shows that the women are amazing when we get the opportunity. So I think it was a huge, great day for women's surfing. The level of the women's tour is so high and everyone's capable of winning, which is exciting, but it also pushes us so much, it's just crazy. There's not really any signs of stopping."

Bryan will see former world champion Tyler Wright as her next opponent in the quarterfinal round. The men are set to hit the water on the next day of competition but the ladies will see their event finished out sometime before March 16, depending on ocean conditions.

Fans can tune in to the WSL YouTube page, the app or the website worldsurfleauge.com