Gabriel Medina and Julian Wilson are the only two surfers left in the world championship chase after navigating classic, clean and pumping Pipeline on Sunday in front of an estimated 5,000 fans at Ehukai Beach.
Medina, the world’s top-ranked surfer, barely avoided elimination by finding a late barrel worth 6.60 points to defeat Hawaii’s Seth Moniz 14.30 to 11.83 in their Billabong Pipe Masters third-round heat. He’s trying to fend off No. 2 Wilson, who had more difficulty in topping Brazil’s Miguel Pupo, 8.43 to 7.00.
“I was really excited to wake up and finally see the waves,” Medina said. “I thought it was going to be bigger, but it’s still pretty good. It’s really fun when you find the good ones, but it’s challenging out there. It’s not easy. I’m really focused on my next round. It’s going to be a good one and hopefully, I can find more barrels.”
Pipeline’s old friend Kelly Slater showed the same panache that led him to 11 world championships and seven Pipe Masters titles in Sunday’s wave faces that were as high as 20 feet. The 46-year-old dispatched No. 3 Filipe Toledo, 15.60 to 6.77, to knock the Brazilian out of the world-title hunt.
With about 10 minutes to go in that heat, Slater found a Backdoor tunnel that scored an 8.67, and then Toledo found a hollow Backdoor tube but got axed by the lip at the last second. By not completing that wave, Toledo’s season came to a crashing halt.
“I took a really bad wipeout at the end of that wave and everything went black for a few seconds,” Toledo said. “I’m definitely sad right now, but at the same time it was an honor to surf perfect, heavy Pipe with Kelly in the water.”
Medina, who won the world title in 2014, and Wilson, who has a Pipe Masters victory to his credit, will duke it out for surfing’s biggest prize today. If Medina finishes first or second, he clinches. If Medina takes third place, Wilson can snatch the world crown by winning Pipe. If Medina is eliminated before the semifinals, Wilson will clinch if he advances to the final.
“I just took all the experience I have and I let Pipe and Backdoor decide my destiny there,” Wilson said. “I just put myself in position, gave myself chances and never gave up. I feel like my year is kind of all coming together at the right time and I’m excited to put on a good performance.”
Organizers believe conditions will be favorable to run the final day of competition today, and they will either green or red light it at 7:30 a.m. for an 8 a.m. start. The 12 remaining Pipe competitors will surf in four three-man heats today, conditions permitting. The top two in each heat advance to the eight-man, four-heat quarterfinals. After that comes the four-man, two-heat semis, and then the two-man final.
The Vans Triple Crown title, which goes to the best surfer in the three season-ending contests combined, is down to four, all of whom got through the third round Sunday — Brazil’s Jesse Mendes, Australia’s Joel Parkinson, South Africa’s Jordy Smith and France’s Joan Duru.
