Photo: ASP | Kirstin
Kelly Slater’s slim shot at a 12th world title took hit today as he was relegated to the loser’s round of the Pipe Masters in a dramatic last minute exchange. The tension was palpable on the opening day of the year ending World Tour event. Kelly Slater, one of three surfers vying for the world title — along with Brazilian world number one, Gabriel Medina, and Australian Mick Fanning — emerged onto the stairs of the player’s race with a poker faced expressions that said all business. He arrived just in time to see Hawaiian prodigy and world number four, John John Florence, put on a jaw dropping display of flawless technique and bravado in his first outing at the Masters for 2014.
Photo: ASP | Kirstin
In treacherous yet mesmerizing eight to ten foot conditions, Florence was on another planet, racking up three waves in a hurried five minute exchange to destroy Australian wildcard Mitch Coleborn and Matt Wilkinson. The gap between the three bordered on embarrassing at times. While Coleborn and Wilkinson struggled to even find the barrel, Florence was being vomited out the bowels of an impossibly round Backdoor barrel for his opening 8.93 followed by an under-the-apex elevator drop on a Pipe left for his back up 9.27, earning him the highest combined heat total of the day: 18.16.
Despite the disorganized conditions, there was a rhythm to the madness. The scoring waves arrived in clusters, spurned out of the same direction a far off storm pulse. With well-shaped, well-directioned pulses at a premium, timing and wave selection were all important. It worked in Slater’s favor as the siren sounded, taking the opening exchange over wildcard Dusty Payne with a steeper, deeper, thicker Pipe pit than his opponent could manage, before escaping dramatically as the wave closed out on the still sand-clogged end-section.
As he stroked into his back up, Mick Fanning was just making his toward the marshall-ing area. If Slater looked poker faced, Fanning’s expression was hewn from stone. He jogged at a fast pace from the Rip Curl house at Off The Wall, avoiding interactions with fans, and quickly grabbing his jersey for a dash to the shoreline. He couldn’t resist a look at Slater’s Backdoor effort, however, as the champ came shooting out of a lengthy tube for a commanding lead. It was only Slater’s third surf at Pipe this winter, having broken two toes in his left foot in a training mishap at Cloudbreak during the break. With under five minutes remaining and Dusty Payne needing a low seven for the lead, it was a two horse race. Then came a cluster. Slater was out of position, allowing Adam Melling to swoop through a dramatic drop and out the end for a 7.00. He repeated the feat on the buzzer for an 8.90 and a dramatic upset victory over Slate. The result sending a hush across the beach at Pipeline.
Photo: ASP | Kirstin
Slater now needs to beat Reef McIntosh in round two to keep his title hopes alive.
Mick Fanning will have breathed a sigh of relief after Makai McNamara edged out Pipe guru and former Pipe Masters winner, Jamie O’Brien, to claim second place in the trials this morning, earning him a spot in the main event. In jumbled conditions like this, JOB would have been a tall order but instead it was Fanning’s experience that showed as the three time world champion built a house early, compiling mediocre total with two mid-range waves. Then Aritz knifed one of the waves of his life — an endless backdoor runner for a 9.27. But he couldn’t find a back up, finishing the heat needing just a 2.89 to send Fanning to the loser’s round.
Photo: ASP | Kirstin
And what a reception it was for the 21-year-old Brazilian world number one. Just as Fanning had done, Medina too emerged from the Rip Curl house in a fast-paced jog, hoping for a discrete passage to the marshall-ing area. He even kept his headphones on to keep out the noise. Fat chance. He was mobbed by the huge Brazilian contingent on the beach at Pipe, a human cauldron forming around the title favorite as he was shepherded up the beach and back down to the shore. At one point his headphones were ripped from his ear so fans could pepper him with encouragement. The raucous scenes eventually earned a grin from the young charger but his form in his first outing at Pipe for 2014 remained far from convincing.
After opening with a shaky effort on his backhand at Backdoor for a low three, his competitive nous eventually kicked in and he found a pristine inside Pipe peak for a 5.5. In a showing he’ll no doubt be disappointed with, Kauaiian Pipe specialist and wildcard, Reef Mcintosh, couldn’t come up with the paltry combined total of 8.80 to beat the Brazilian. And so Medina moved on. He is now one heat win away from knocking Slater out of title contention, needing only make the fourth round to kill any chance of a 12th title for the The Champ.
– Jed Smith
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