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Billabong Pipe Masters is called on

COURTESY WSL / CESTARI
                                The view at Pipeline this morning.
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COURTESY WSL / CESTARI

The view at Pipeline this morning.

The World Surf League announced this morning that the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons is on, with 6- to 10-foot waves at Banzai Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore.

The Pipe Masters is the final stop on the 2019 World Surf League Men’s Championship Tour and third event of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The competition began at 8 a.m. with Round 1.

“The surf is pumping at Pipe and Backdoor, 8-10ft. with 12-15+ faces,” said Marty Thomas, WSL Hawaii/Tahiti Nui competition director, in a news release. “We have very clean offshore winds and with today’s conditions, the call is a no-brainer. Heats will be 30 minutes and we will move through the Seeding Round 1 along with the Elimination Round 2 for a total of 16 heats today.”

Among those competing for the win, and potentially the World Title, are current World No. 1 Italo Ferreira (BRA), No. 2 Gabriel Medina (BRA), No. 3 Jordy Smith (ZAF), No. 4 Filipe Toledo (BRA), and No. 5 Kolohe Andino (USA).

Today’s competition will also determine the final male provisional qualifiers for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, with the 2019 WSL Championship Tour rankings at the end of the season determining 18 of 40 places, including 10 men and eight women.

The Billabong Pipe Masters is broadcast live on WorldSurfLeague.com, the free WSL app, and VansTripleCrownofSurfing.com. Hawaii fans can tune into Spectrum SURF channels 20 and 1020HD, which will televise live action and event replays.

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