He fell just short of a maiden surfing world tour victory, but Australian rookie Jack Freestone showed why he's regarded as one of the hottest talents on the circuit at the Rio Pro.
In only his third senior event, the 24-year-old from Tweed Heads on the NSW north coast was in red-hot form to reach the final on Thursday before going down to John John Florence.
The Hawaiian outclassed Freestone, banking scores of 9.70 and 9.27 to comfortably claim the win 18.97 to 16.13 and move to third on the championship.
Freestone had earlier silenced the locals when he knocked out three Brazilians - world No.2 Italo Ferreira in round five, Miguel Pupo in the quarter-finals and 2014 world champion Gabriel Medina in the semis to steamroll his way to the decider.
Making the result even more impressive was that the 2011 world junior champion had only recently returned from a leg injury he sustained after the series-opening tournament on the Gold Coast two months ago.
"I am very happy," Freestone said.
"It was a long week and I just had to take it heat by heat.
"To come back from an injury and get second place is amazing, and I am over the moon."
Competing at an event that lacked some of Australia's usual big-name stars such as Mick Fanning, Julian Wilson and Taj Burrow, fellow rookie Davey Cathels also reached his first quarter-final in only his fourth event.
The 25-year-old, who upset defending Rio Pro champion Filipe Toledo on Wednesday, led world champion Adriano de Souza with 10 minutes to go in their quarter-final before the Brazilian produced two late rides of 6.50 and 6.47.
Meanwhile, fellow Australian Adam Melling was defeated by Medina in their quarter-final on Thursday morning.
Aussie Matt Wilkinson - who won the opening two tournaments on the Gold Coast and Bells Beach in Victoria - still leads the championship tour by 5,750 points over Ferreira.
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