Pipeline: the proving ground of the proving grounds. Photo: ASP
The waiting period for the 2014 Billabong Pipe Masters, the final jewel in the 2014 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and the last event of the 2014 ASP World Championship Tour, begins on December 8th and runs through December 20th.
Pipeline will play center stage for the 2014 ASP WCT Title and 2015 World Surfing League Championship Tour Qualification. Injuries are already a major theme of the 2014 Billabong Pipe Masters as Taj Burrow, Adriano DeSouza, and CJ Hobgood have been forced to withdraw from the event. They are replaced by ASP alternates Glenn Hall, Mitch Coleborn and Dusty Payne. The list of competing surfers beset with nagging to significant injuries going into the 2014 Billabong Pipe Masters includes Kelly Slater, John John Florence, and Joel Parkinson.
A much talked about trials event has been added to the 2014 Billabong Pipe Masters, allowing 32 Pipe specialists to vie for a lucrative $100,000 in total prize money. The 2014 Billabong Pipe Masters Trials champion and runner up will receive wildcard entries into the main event – entries that may very well lead to multiple World Title and Requalification spoilers at the ultimate proving grounds.
Kelly Slater, the event’s defending champion, while winless in the 2014 ASP WCT season, has been the model for consistency, posting nothing lower than a fifth place finish (save for one 13th at J-Bay).
Defending ASP WCT Champion Mick Fanning has the best statistical odds of catching and surpassing Gabriel Medina for the 2014 ASP WCT title. If conditions favor Backdoor, which early forecasts are leaning towards, Mick may get just enough done to finish far enough ahead of Gabriel and stay within range of Kelly to win his 4th World Title.
With Kelly and Mick hot on his heels, Gabriel Medina will have to perform like the World Champion that he hopes to become in order to win his maiden WCT Title at the 2014 Billabong Pipe Masters.
