Where it all goes down. Photo: WSL / Tony Heff
It’s been more than a month since a CT heat’s been held. If you’re one of a handful of guys whose work attire consists of a bright neon jersey and boardshorts then it’s possible that’s been a painfully slow month.
Take Gabriel Medina, for example, who was riding the hottest streak until a…let’s call it a nebulous interference call quite possibly pushed the 2019 world title on to December. There’s an argument to be made that without that one wave Caio Ibelli and Gabriel Medina “shared” for a brief moment, this year’s Pipe Masters wouldn’t be much more than a victory lap for Gab’s third title. So yeah, he’s probably been a tad anxious over the past month right alongside the four other men with a mathematical possibility of winning the world title.
World titles aren’t always decided at Pipe, arguably the best contest on the Tour. Plenty of years have been sealed up in Europe and every once in awhile they’ll be in the bag earlier than that. Most often, we can hope for a two-man title race at Pipe and maybe a third with an outside chance…like a really outside chance. This year, that guy is Kolohe Andino, and he’s all the way down at world no. five. There are a lot of dudes in the mix, so with that said and the Pipe Masters competition window opening up over the weekend, take a dip into a few things that are at stake in during the world tour’s curtain call on 2019:
World Title Scenarios
Italo Ferreira has the yellow jersey but he’s not in the driver’s seat. In fact, no one person is, technically. Ferreira, Medina, and Filipe Toledo can win it all if they win it all. It’s an interesting twist because you’ll notice Toledo is going into the event ranked world no. four. But Jordy’s third-place ranking is a bit of an illusion because while he’s had a more consistent year (one throwaway equal 17th to Toledo’s two). Assuming he betters that result, he’ll be dropping one of his two Round of 16 exits from the year, equal 9th at JBay and France. Jordy’s been that good this year, advancing to the quarters or better in all but three events. Only he hasn’t managed to win a single one of them in 2019, so to make a long story short, Filipe Toledo is essentially your world no. three going into Pipe, and the top five is rounded out by Kolohe Andino.
-If Italo finishes runner-up, Medina and Toledo will need a 1st to claim the world title.
-If Italo places third, Medina needs a 2nd and Filipe and Jordy must win the event.
-If Italo gets 5th, Medina needs a 3rd, Filipe a 2nd, and Jordy a 1st.
-If Ferreira finishes 9th, Medina needs a 5th, Filipe a 3rd, Jordy a 2nd, and Kolohe a 1st.
If Italo places 17th/33rd, Medina and Filipe will need a 9th, Jordy a 5th, and Kolohe a 2nd.
