Slater sweats out a close win | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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COURTESY WORLD SURF LEAGUE

Kelly Slater wins heat 11 round three of the billabong pipe masters

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COURTESY WORLD SURF LEAGUE

Kelly Slater scored 15.27 points to narrowly beat Conner Coffin’s 15.20 in the third round of the Billabong Pipe Masters on Sunday. Below, Kauai’s Sebastian Zietz fell short of advancing, scoring just 2.94 to Josh Kerr’s 7.33.

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Kelly Slater sat in the water, waiting, before finally hearing what he wanted to hear.

The eleven-time World Surf League champion from Cocoa Beach, Fla., had just watched Conner Coffin’s deep tube ride and knew it could spell defeat Sunday at the Billabong Pipe Masters. Instead, when the public-address announcer voiced the score, it turned out Coffin was seven-hundredths of a point short. The 23-year-old from Santa Barbara, Calif., needed a 9.14, but was awarded a 9.07 from the judges.

That slim loss in the 3- to 5-foot waves in the Pipe Masters’ third round also cost Coffin the WSL’s rookie of the year award, which wound up going to Brazil’s Caio Ibelli.

The 44-year-old Slater, meanwhile, stayed in the chase for an eighth Pipe Masters title. One final day of competition remains in the WSL’s season-ender with two days left in the waiting period. The next call will be at 7:30 a.m. today, and if it is not called on, the contest will finish up Tuesday.

“It was a real tactical battle, so I was just trying to get something going on the smaller waves,” said Slater, whose earlier barrel was longer but not as deep as Coffin’s.

Hawaii’s John John Florence, the WSL’s new champion, rolled into the fourth round by beating Bede Durbidge, who won the event in 2007. Florence is gunning for his first Pipe Masters championship and is also going for a third Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title. The Pipe Masters is the third Triple Crown event. Florence won the first leg, the Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, and made it through to the fourth round of the middle contest, the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach.

Florence was glad to see Durbidge back at Pipe, the place where the Australian suffered a severe pelvic injury in the Pipe Masters last year.

“He is such a legend and such a good guy,” Florence said. “Just to see him progress through the whole year is really cool. I still took it like a heat though because I want to keep going in this event.”

A bunch of other WSL high-ranked surfers moved to the fourth round, too, including No. 5 Kolohe Andino of San Clemente, Calif., No. 8. Joel Parkinson (2012 world champ) of Australia, Filipe Toledo (tied with Slater at No. 9 in the rankings) of Brazil, and No. 13 Michel Bourez of Tahiti.