The 2013 Billabong Pipe Masters ran without crowning a world champion. Rounds 3 and 4 finished with neither Kelly Slater nor Mick Fanning facing much heat. Kelly breezed through his Round 3 heat beating a sluggish Mitch Crews 17.66 to 3.30. He also won his Round 4 heat against Sebastian Zietz and Miguel Pupo with a heat score of 17.56. Mick Fanning smoked Kaimana Jaquias 15.65 to 6.27 but lost his Round 4 heat to John John Florence and Nat Young and will face CJ Hobgood in Round 5. The unfortunate story of the second day of competition was Bede Durbidge–who, in his Round 3 heat against Nat Young, burst his eardrum.
Mick wasn’t excited about his sole error of the day and, according to a press release, left the beach immediately after his Round 4 loss unexcited about discussing the world title implications. Regardless of his preparation on Tuesday, Fanning will have to get his mind set for either Friday or Saturday when it looks like the swell will pick back up and be ready finish the Pipe Masters and the final jewel of the Triple Crown of Surfing.
Kelly Slater, trailing Fanning in the race for the world title, wasn’t sure the contest should’ve even run. In a press release, he said, “I was worried this-morning about the conditions…John John (Florence) and I were out trying to catch a couple of waves and I kind of thought ‘maybe we shouldn’t run, maybe we should wait and hour or two until it gets better.’ I had to go out there focused.”
Speaking of John John Florence, he had some trouble as well in the morning. “I was nervous when I found out Gabriel (Medina) was in my heat…Days like this, you can’t be picky and I think I caught about 10 waves before I made one. I hit the bottom and was rattled until the end. That last Backdoor wave was really perfect and once I came through the section it was just perfect and easy from there.” John John beat Medina and finds himself close to the frontrunner position in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing despite a tremendously slow start at Haleiwa in which he lost his first round heat. A Triple Crown would be a nice consolation prize for not achieving the ultimate goal of a world title that he was touted to win when the tour kicked off in February.
Competition will resume with Round 5 which pits Floridian CJ Hobgood against Mick Fanning. CJ can put Mick out of world title contention and leave Kelly Slater’s fate in his own hands.
Contest officials will make a call at 7:30am Wednesday whether or not the contest will run. Stay clued in to the action at vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com
BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 12.66 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.66
Heat 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 11.33 def. Fred Patacchia (HAW) 7.13
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.97 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 8.33
Heat 4: Nat Young (USA) 14.97 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.40
Heat 5: John John Florence (HAW) 16.23 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.00
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.63 def. Kaimana Jaquias (HAW) 6.27
Heat 7: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 14.67 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 9.76
Heat 8: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.77 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 9.17
Heat 9: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.66 def. Mitch Crews (AUS) 3.30
Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.33 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 10.96
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.10 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.67
Heat 12: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.56 def. Dusty Payne (AUS) 7.33
BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 14.83, Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.96, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 11.84
Heat 2:John John Florence (HAW) 16.37, Nat Young (USA) 14.00, Mick Fanning (AUS) 11.51
Heat 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.56, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 14.50, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.17
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14.77, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.57, Kai Otton (AUS) 7.60
BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 5 MATCH UPS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Mick Fanning (AUS)
Heat 2: Nat Young (USA) vs. Julian Wilson (AUS)
Heat 3: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Current Vans Triple Crown Top 5:
1 – John John Florence (HAW) 10,600 points
2 – Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10,400 points
3 – Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 10,100 points
4 – Yadin Nicol (AUS) 9,300 points
5 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 8,400 points
