Sutured knee could force late withdrawal for WSL leader Ferreira

Italo Ferreira suffered a deep laceration to his right knee two days before the El Salvador Pro during a freesurf session at Sunzal and required eight stitches after what he described on Instagram as an incident in which ‘another surfer ran right over me.’ Local reports said he was struck by a novice longboarder while surfing with his wife, Sofia Larocca. Wozzle said he was medicated, reported being pain-free and remains under observation. Ferreira, the World Surf League (WSL) tour rankings leader, Olympic gold medalist and former world champion, is seeded into heat nine of round two at the El Salvador Pro, which is set to begin Friday at Punta Roca. Heat nine will pair him with the winner of the Ramzi Boukhiam vs. Matt McGillivray matchup, according to the heat draw. He has not officially withdrawn, but the timing of the sutured knee gives him little time to recover and could force a short-notice pullout — which would join Jordy Smith as an already withdrawn competitor. Organizers, medical staff and Ferreira’s team will reassess his fitness ahead of the event.