Check out what happened this crazy Thursday: Filipinho lost in the last second to an inspired Miguel Pupo, Italo Ferreira silenced the critics with an out-of-this-world aerial, and the title fight is wide open!

Man, what a day it was in Saquarema? Seriously. Itaúna beach, which was always a party, was simply silent. Total silence! And all because of a score, a 4.83 that came out with the horn for Miguel Pupo. That wasn't just a score, it was the sound of the Rio king's throne falling down.

Write this down: this Thursday, June 26th, was much more than surfing. It was pure emotion, overcoming, and a huge mess in the ranking. It was the day we saw Filipe Toledo, the owner of the peak, lose in an unbelievable way. And, to compensate, we saw a fierce Italo Ferreira roar back to life with an amazing show!

The mistake that cost the crown

Filipe Toledo's heat against Miguel Pupo was supposed to be easy. At least on paper. It was Filipinho, the guy who won the most here, against an experienced surfer, but who was running from behind. And for almost 35 minutes, that's how it went. Filipe seemed in total control, surfing with the calm of someone who's at home.

Then came the mistake. A tactical blunder that changed everything. With the priority and the clock almost running out, Toledo saw Pupo paddle into a right that didn't seem like much and... let it pass. It was a split-second decision, perhaps thinking the wave wouldn't be worth the 4.67 Miguel needed. A mistake that only happens because of the immense pressure of competing for this crowd.

And Pupo? Didn't think twice. He surfed the wave with incredible precision, milking every maneuver. When the score came out, the scoreboard turned: 10.93 to 10.77. The beach went from disbelief to madness! Toledo left the water quietly, and Pupo, our "giant killer" of the day, was all joy. What a turnaround!

The champion is back!

If Filipe's defeat was the drama of the day, Italo Ferreira's heat was the action movie! The 2019 world champion entered the water against the American Crosby Colapinto with enormous pressure on his back, after several consecutive eliminations. You could see that he needed a result yesterday. His answer? To go all out!

From the beginning, Italo only wanted one thing: to fly. He tried an aerial, fell. He tried another, fell again. But he didn't give up. He knew that to turn the game around, he needed a magical moment. And he found it!

On a left, Italo picked up speed and launched himself into a full-rotation aerial that was simply absurd! He went very high, rotated perfectly, and landed as if it were the easiest thing in the world. The crowd on the sand went wild before the score even came out! The 9.33 that the judges gave was just confirmation: Italo is back, and hungry for victory!

His celebration, running to the crowd, was a catharsis. It was him telling everyone that, even in a bad phase, his talent can still mess up the whole championship.

The Brazilian "Storm" with ups and downs

While Italo put on his show, Yago Dora, quietly, did his job. Vice-leader of the ranking, he passed his heats with his usual efficiency, mixing strength and style. He's already in the quarterfinals and continues strong in the pursuit of another podium in Rio.

But the day also had its sad side for our people. We saw João "Chumbinho" Chianca, Alejo Muniz, and other Brazilians saying goodbye early in the repechage. It's proof that competing at home has two sides: the energy of the crowd can take you to the top, but it can also weigh you down.

In the women's, the fight is good and there's a new heroine on the scene!

Among the women, things also caught fire! Our young Luana Silva surfed a lot and eliminated none other than two-time world champion Tyler Wright. With Tati Weston-Webb also out, now it's Luana who carries Brazil's hope on her back, and she's already in the semifinals as the big surprise of the day!

And look how crazy this is: with this combination of results, Australian Molly Picklum became the new ranking leader and will wear the yellow jersey! The fight for the women's title, which seemed to have its favorites, turned into a complete mess here in Saquarema.

And tomorrow, what to expect?

The stage for the last day is set, and the promise is of even more excitement! In the men's quarterfinals, we already have a guaranteed Brazilian duel between Yago Dora and the on-fire Miguel Pupo. In other words, we already have a Brazilian in the semifinals! On the other side, the heat between Italo Ferreira and the Australian Ethan Ewing will be amazing: Italo's aerial show against the gringo's perfect turns.

In the women's, our heroine Luana Silva will go up against the experienced Caroline Marks, with the whole crowd pushing her on. And the new leader, Molly Picklum, will have to face the newcomer Erin Brooks to stay at the top.

In short: Thursday in Saquarema was a movie! There was a falling king, a champion rising again, and new stars shining. The throne of Rio is vacant, and the final storm promises to be one of those. Today's silence on the beach was just a warm-up for the noise to come!