Adriano De Souza (right) of Brazil celebrates on the podium alongside compatriot Gabriel Medina after they won first and second, respectively, in the World Surfing League world championship at the Billabong Pipe Masters, on Oahu island, Hawaii, on Thursday. (Reuters)

Reuters/Cary, North Carolina

Adriano de Souza kept the men’s surfing world title in Brazilian hands when he was crowned champion at the final event on the pro tour, the Pipe Masters in Hawaii, on Thursday.
Competing at the famed Pipeline on the north shore of Oahu, de Souza clinched the title by reaching the final against compatriot Gabriel Medina, who was Brazil’s first world champion last year.
De Souza went on to beat Medina in the final and become the first Brazilian to win the prestigious Pipe Masters.
The 28-year-old journeyman thanked his dead brother for buying him his first surfboard for $7 and setting him on the path to the world title.
“It’s so wonderful to be a world champion,” he said after being chaired off the beach by a large crowd of Brazilian fans.
“It’s extra bonus, to be a pipeline champion ... Everything I’ve learned in 10 years on tour I put together.”
Medina has led the “Brazilian Wave” after his 2014 world title, inspiring a group of young South American surfers who have started to make their mark on the world tour, eroding the former grip of Australian and American surfers.
Second place behind de Souza on Thursday was enough to make Medina the first Brazilian to win the “Triple Crown” as the surfer with the highest total tally from three contests in Hawaii at Haleiwa, Sunset and Pipeline.
Brazilian and Australian surfers occupied the top seven spots in the standings, with three-times world champion Mick Fanning finishing second.
Fanning, who made headlines earlier this year when he was attacked by a shark during the South African round of the championship, was competing with a heavy heart after the death of his brother in Australia just hours before the event.
“It’s been a huge day,” Fanning said. “I’ve just got some personal stuff going on at home and it’s sort of heavy to talk about right now, but I don’t know, I’m just sort of cruising, and just trying to live.”
Another Australian surfer, Bede Durbidge, wiped out in round three on Wednesday, suffering a fractured pelvis when he slammed into a reef on the notoriously dangerous break.
In the women’s standings, Hawaiian Carissa Moore won her third world title.
The organising committee of the Tokyo Olympics has proposed including surfing in the 2020 Games, but it will not be part of next year’s Rio Olympics.