World title contender Gabriela Bryan extended her 2026 Championship Tour campaign at Manu Bay, eliminating 2025 Rookie of the Year Erin Brooks from the Corona Cero New Zealand Pro with a 12.27 two-wave total built on her trademark backhand attack.
The Round 2 heat had been billed as one of the women's draw's most intriguing match-ups — and one of WSL Fantasy's biggest, with Brooks one of the most-picked surfers in the competition heading into the event. Brooks' precise rail surfing had carried her through Round 1 with one of the highest combined scores of the morning, but Bryan's heavier approach and capacity to draw out a turn for longer through Raglan's long wall made the difference.
Bryan, a Hawaii-born goofy-footer who has built her reputation on backhand surfing in heavy lefts, was in her element on the Manu Bay set-up. Her opening wave registered a mid-six score off two tight pocket turns and a closing snap, and she added a back-up ride midway through the heat that bumped her into the mid-twelves. Brooks pushed late but did not find the right corner.
The loss is a frustrating one for the Canadian-American, whose 2025 Rookie of the Year campaign had set high expectations for her sophomore season. Brooks remains comfortably inside the mid-year cut line but has yet to translate her best regional results into a deep CT run in 2026.
Bryan, by contrast, now has another marker performance on a wave that should be central to her 2026 season. The Hawaiian's backhand work has been the calling card of her year so far, and her ability to win heats in conditions that do not naturally reward power — Raglan's long-period lefts demand patience as much as anything — points to a more rounded competitive surfer than the one who finished 2025.
The forecast at Manu Bay strengthens later in the event window, with a more substantial south-west swell pushing in mid-week. That would suit Bryan's heavier approach even more, and the early read from the lay-day commentary has been that the contest's deciding heats are likely to land in the back end of the holding period.
For the women's title race, Bryan's progression keeps a familiar name in contention. Luana Silva, the World No. 1, was knocked out earlier in the day by Tyler Wright, and a string of similar upsets has thrown the women's leader-board open as the mid-year cut nears. Bryan has been one of the more consistent performers across the first three CT stops of 2026 and now adds a wave-management win in conditions she has historically had to work hard to read.
Bryan moves through to Round 3, where she will meet the winner of an elimination match later in the draw. Brooks heads home with the consolation of a strong points haul that keeps her safely above the cut line — but with the unwelcome reminder that the Championship Tour does not forgive the kind of late-heat miscalculation that cost her in Round 2.
