Rio Pro: Dora, Lindblad win and tighten Championship Tour races
NXTbets Pro | Published On: June 26, 2026
Yago Dora delivers
Yago Dora won the Rio Pro in Saquarema for the second time and used the result to climb into the heart of the Championship Tour title race. He took control of the men’s final with a backside, no-grab full-rotation air that earned an 8.5, then finished off Leo Fioravanti 15 to 13.17. The scoreline showed how much ground Dora covered in the final stretch. He needed a big moment to separate from Fioravanti, and he found it on a wave that carried the kind of risk that can swing a final in a hurry. The win moved Dora up to third in the CT rankings, and he finished less than 1,000 points behind Fioravanti. That gap keeps the pressure on the top of the standings as the tour heads on. Fioravanti was set to wear the yellow jersey at the next CT stop in Tahiti, and Dora’s result made the chase tighter at the top. The Rio Pro gave Dora another win in a venue where he has already succeeded before, and it also gave the men’s side of the tour a fresh jolt at a key point in the season.
Sawyer Lindblad breaks
Sawyer Lindblad won her first Championship Tour event in Brazil, and she did it by holding off 15-year-old rookie Tya Zebrowski in the women’s final. Lindblad posted a 7.67 to Zebrowski’s 6.10 to seal the breakthrough after three straight losses in title matches. That history gave the result extra weight, because the final was not only a first win on tour, it was also the end of a run of close misses. Lindblad needed patience and control to finish the job, and she delivered both in a final that stayed within reach before her scoreline pulled clear. Zebrowski pushed the contest as a rookie, but Lindblad managed the pressure and left with her first CT title. The win also changed the women’s standings. Lindblad moved into third place overall after the event. That puts her inside the top group of contenders and gives her a stronger position as the season moves forward. The Rio Pro gave her the kind of result that can change a season fast, and it came against a younger opponent who already showed she belongs in the mix at this level.
Title races tighten
The Brazil results tightened the title race on both the men’s and women’s Championship Tours, and the standings now carry more weight after a weekend that produced movement at the top. On the women’s side, Gabriela Bryan and Carissa Moore stayed first and second overall after each finished fifth at the Rio Pro. Their placements kept them in front, but the margin around them narrowed once Lindblad won and moved into third. That gives the women’s race a clearer top tier, with Bryan and Moore still leading and Lindblad closing in behind them. On the men’s side, Dora’s win did the same kind of damage to the gap at the top. He moved to third, stayed within 1,000 points of Fioravanti and turned the next stop in Tahiti into another pressure point in the chase. The Rio Pro produced a clean set of shifts. Dora got the second Saquarema win of his career. Lindblad got her first Championship Tour victory. Bryan and Moore protected their places at the front of the women’s standings. Fioravanti kept his place in the mix for the yellow jersey. The result was a tour picture that looks tighter on both sides after Brazil.
