With a late decision to run competition yesterday, the WSL switched up the format and ran dual heats for the second day of the Billabong Pipe Masters. Staggering time and priority, four surfers (instead of two) were in the line-up all day.
The swell continued to drop and periodic winds and rain persisted all day, making for a cut and dry four hours with most surfers either scoring big or nothing at all.
The title race hasn’t changed just yet. The three contenders sent to round two, Filipe Toledo, Adriano de Souza and Julian Wilson all made it through to surf another day.
While Toledo and Wilson controlled the line-up and won with a commanding lead over their wildcard opponents, De Souza barely beat trials winner Jack Robinson.
After De Souza found a gem going right at Backdoor, scoring an 8.27, the young Australian only needed a 5.78 to take the lead and dropped into a beautiful Backdoor bomb with about a minute left on the clock. With a short and sweet exit–it was going to be close. The scores came through averaging a 5.17 and De Souza could breathe a sigh of relief.
Heat 7 was just as close with Kelly Slater stealing the win from Dusty Payne with only a 0.60. Payne started the round with an 8.50 and held the lead going into the last five minutes, but Slater came out the doggy door on a deep barrel at Backdoor and earned a 7.80 to take the top spot.
In Heat 9 Glen Hall, hoping to make the most out of this event, found himself advancing to Round 3 for the first time since Trestles, narrowly defeating Nat Young who is currently ranked No. 10 in the rankings.
The rest of the day’s heats had a clear winner with some heats leaving surfers comboed and others winning by full wave scores.
The swell is continuing to drop, meaning we may have to wait a few days to see the World Title Race unfold. Gabriel Medina will be first up to defend his chance when competition gets going again.
Keep an eye on Worldsurfleague.com for more Pipeline when competition resumes.
