The best are rising to the top at the Billabong Pipe Masters.
Fantastic Banzai Pipeline conditions and suspenseful story lines have made for a whirlwind atmosphere at Ehukai Beach this week at the season-ending World Surf League contest.
On Wednesday in 10- to 12-foot waves, there were some surprises and some unexpected exits that are making the eventual final picture just a little bit clearer. So many things are at stake and it will all come to a head with one more day of competition left, and that could be as soon as today, conditions permitting.
The biggest prize in the offing is the world title, which is determined by a year-long points race, and that needle moved quite a bit Wednesday. Two of the five who entered the day with a shot at the world crown fell by the wayside with third-round losses. Gone out of that chase are No. 3 Jordy Smith of South Africa and No. 4 Filipe Toledo of Brazil.
In all likelihood, 2019 world supremacy is going to come down to two Brazilians, No. 1 Italo Ferreira and No. 2 Gabriel Medina, who both advanced through the third round to make it into the Round of 16. No. 5 Kolohe Andino of San Clemente, Calif., who also surfed into the fourth round, has a slim shot at it.
Also at stake is the final spot for the U.S. Olympic team for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Andino is already in, but the other berth is being contested by two of the best surfers to have graced the planet — 11-time world champ Kelly Slater and two-time world champ John John Florence. They made it into the Round of 16, but a long, long shot for that Olympic spot, Hawaii’s Seth Moniz, kept pace and can sneak into the Olympics by winning Pipe or finishing super high if the other two falter.
Slater, 47, who is in his 27th Pipe Masters and a seven-time champion of the event, had the crowd thundering its approval on the day’s only 10.00 ride — an extra-long Backdoor tube in which multiple curtains down the line fell over his head.
“I was like, ‘No it’s not going to let me out,” Slater said after the wave. “It’s not going to let me out. … I just kept going and going and it kept bouncing open for me and I just snuck out the end.”
Florence is finding his stride after an up-and-down opening day Tuesday, when he returned after a long absence due to a knee injury
“Kelly and Gabe got me fired up and the waves are absolutely pumping,” he said. “I’m just warming up and getting back into things. I’m so excited to be getting barreled again.”
Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau, who was eliminated from the contest by Florence on Wednesday, was knocked out in his bid to re-qualify for next year’s championship tour. He needed to get into the WSL’s top 22 and now will likely be on the qualifying series feeder tour instead. Kauai’s Sebastian Zietz, another third-round loser, also did not re-qualify.
Medina is going for a third world crown, but he needs to get past Ferreira, his countryman.
Florence, who was leading the world title race until his injury that kept him out of five tour events, talked about the possibility of Medina taking it all and adding that third title to move ahead of Florence’s two.
“It will motivate me a ton,” he said. “It will make me a little pissed off because he’ll have one better than me. It’ll just fire me up more for next year.”
BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS
Fourth round (Round of 16) matchups; today, conditions permitting, at Ehukai Beach
>> Heat 1: Italo Ferreira (Brazil) vs. Peterson Crisanto (Brazil)
>> Heat 2: Yago Dora (Brazil) vs. Julian Wilson (Australia)
>> Heat 3: Ricardo Christie (Australia) vs. Jack Freestone (Australia)
>> Heat 4: Seth Moniz (Hawaii) vs. Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Fla.)
>> Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (Brazil) vs. Caio Ibelli (Brazil)
>> Heat 6: John John Florence (Hawaii) vs. Soli Bailey (Australia)
>> Heat 7: Jesse Mendes (Brazil) v. Griffin Colapinto (San Clemente, Calif.)
>> Heat 8: Michel Bourez (Tahiti) vs. Kolohe Andino (San Clemente, Calif.)
BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS
Fourth round (Round of 16) matchups
Today, conditions permitting, at Ehukai Beach
>> Heat 1: Italo Ferreifa (Brazil) vs. Peterson Crisanto (Brazil)
>> Heat 2: Yago Dora (Brazil) vs. Julian Wilson (Australia)
>> Heat 3: Ricardo Christie (Australia) vs. Jack Freestone (Australia)
>> Heat 4: Seth Moniz (Hawaii) vs. Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Fla.)
>> Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (Brazil) vs. Caio Ibelli (Brazil)
>> Heat 6: John John Florence (Hawaii) vs. Soli Bailey (Australia)
>> Heat 7: Jesse Mendes (Brazil) v. Griffin Colapinto (San Clemente, Calif.)
>> Heat 8: Michel Bourez (Tahiti) vs. Kolohe Andino (San Clemente, Calif.)
