Portuguese surfer Yolanda Hopkins clinched her maiden Challenger Series victory at the Saquarema Pro in Brazil, simultaneously ascending to the top of the circuit’s rankings and cementing her qualification for the 2026 World Tour.
The 27-year-old defeated Basque competitor Annette Gonzalez Etxabarri in the final on Saturday, scoring 13.16 points against Etxabarri’s 10.20. This triumph marks Hopkins’ first career win on the Challenger Series. It builds on an earlier finalist appearance for Hopkins in Ballito, South Africa.
Hopkins’ success at the Brazilian event had already secured her a place on surfing’s elite World Tour for the upcoming 2026 season. She now shares the top spot in the Challenger Series standings with France’s 14-year-old Tya Zebrowski. Both surfers need to reach the semifinals in the remaining two stages to solidify or improve their positions.
The Challenger Series serves as the primary qualification pathway for the World Tour, with the top seven ranked surfers earning a spot among the elite. Portugal is poised for significant representation, with two other surfers still in contention for qualification.
Francisca “Kika” Veselko currently holds fourth place in the rankings with over 20,000 points. Teresa Bonvalot is in 12th position with 16,125 points, just 295 points shy of the crucial seventh-place cutoff.
Hopkins’ victory is the second Portuguese win this season in the Challenger Series. Francisca Veselko started the season with a victory in Newcastle, Australia. Teresa Bonvalot also secured a historic win in Sydney in 2022, making Hopkins’ triumph the third overall for Portugal in the series.
The final two stages of the Challenger Series are scheduled for early 2026. Competitions will take place at Pipeline in Hawaii and conclude in Newcastle, Australia, where the season began. The Saquarema Pro final was held after days of inconsistent wave conditions. Hopkins previously faced a setback in the same region a year ago, narrowly missing World Tour qualification by a single heat.