Dale Staples put in a committed performance at Pipe, which saw him slotting into some high-scoring kegs and a run to the quarter finals of the Volcom Pipe Pro.
Dale Staples posted the best result by a South African in many years at the iconic surf break of Pipeline in Hawaii yesterday when he finished ninth in the ASP 5-Star rated Volcom Pipe Pro which was run in excellent tubing double overhead waves over the last three days.
Staples, 22, from St Francis Bay, the only Saffa in the event, recorded three outstanding heat victories against several of Pipeline’s best exponents to reach the quarter-finals of the US $130 000 (approx. R1.17 million) contest before being eliminated with earnings of R22 500 and 633 rankings points.
The event was won for the third successive time by ASP World No. 4 and Pipe local John John Florence whose mastery of the break was exceptional. Florence, 20, who lives right in front of Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, posted four rides of over 9 out of 10 in his Round 64 heat, totaling a near perfect heat tally 19.70 out of a possible 20 for his top two.
His total of 16.33 in the final was enough to give him victory over Chris Ward (USA), Josh Kerr (AUS) and fellow Hawaiian Olamana Eleogram along with the winner’s cheque for US $20 000 and 2 000 points.
All the action from the Volcom Pipe Pro can be viewed in the Heats on Demand section of http://www.volcompipepro.com
Volcom Pipe Pro Results:
Final
1st: $20,000 – John John Florence – 16.33 points (8.43, 7.9)
2nd: $10,000 – Chris Ward – 14.8 (7.93, 6.87)
3rd: $6,500 – Josh Kerr – 13.83 (8.33, 5.5)
4th: $5,500 – Olamana Eleogram – 13.3 (6.87, 6.43)
Semi-Finals:
H1: John John Florence (HI); Chris Ward (USA); Kolohe Andino (USA); Reef McIntosh
(HI)
H2: Josh Kerr (AUS); Olamana Eleogram (HI); Conner Coffin (USA); Dusty Payne (HI)
Quarters:
H1: John John Florence (HI); Reef McIntosh (HI); Bruce Irons (HI); Jamie O’Brien
(HI)
H2: Kolohe Andino (USA); Chris Ward (USA); Kahea Hart (HI); Masatoshi Ohno (JPN)
H3: Olamana Eleogram (HI); Dusty Payne (HI); Dale Staples (ZAF); Jesse Mendes (BRA)
H4: Josh Kerr (AUS); Conner Coffin (USA); Alex Gray (USA); Sebastian Zietz (HI)
