13 December, 2014 13 December, 2014

Kelly Stumbles, Gabriel and Mick Advance at Pipe Masters

Kelly Slater’s chances of clinching his twelfth world title took a big hit following the completion of Round 1 at the 2014 Billabong Pipe Masters, which got underway in solid conditions on Friday. That’s because both Mick Fanning and Gabriel Medina did the job in their opening heats and skipped straight to Round 3, while Kelly, needing an early loss by his opponents and an event victory for himself, will need to get through Round 2 after finishing a close second behind Adam Melling (AUS) in Heat 5.

Melling
Adam Melling was responsible for the biggest upset in Round 1 when he beat Kelly Slater.

Classic conditions greeted competitors on Friday morning, and the final of the Men’s Pipeline Invitational was quickly called on to decide the two wildcards into the main event. A tough battle ensued and experienced Pipe charger Reef McIntosh claimed one of the wildcards by taking the win. Jamie O’Brien was the favourite to take the other wildcard, but Makai MacNamara was having none of that as he charged through a crazy Backdoor tube to clinch his spot in the Pipe Masters.

Round 1 kicked-off immediately after and Joel Parkinson took the win in Heat 1 to advance directly to the third round. John John Florence then paddled out two heats later and did exactly what was expected of him, as he rode Pipe and Backdoor like a champ to score Round 1’s highest heat total – 18.16 out of 20.00pts – including this crazy 9.23:

Kelly’s heat followed straight after the JJF show, and the 11-time world champ got off to a strong start by scoring an 8.10 to put himself into a comfortable lead early on. Kelly backed that score up with a 7.70 and looked like he’ll be on his way to Round 3 with five minutes remaining in the heat. With his eyes focussed on Dusty Payne in second place, Kelly did not expect Adam Melling to be the spoiler as he was yet to catch a wave with five minutes left to go. Adam then had a stormer of a “5 minute heat” as he called it, when he rode two Backdoor bombs to take the heat win with seconds to spare.

Kelly will now have to get through a tough Round 2 heat against Reef McIntosh to join Gabriel and Mick in Round 3, where he’ll be hoping it’s their turn to hit a speed bump.

KellySlater
Kelly Slater looked well on his way to Round 3 after this Backdoor bomb.

The glassy morning conditions started to ruffle during Gabriel’s opening heat, but the Brazilian maintained his composure to take the heat win and another step closer to his maiden world title. Two more like that and he’ll be guaranteed the crown.

Jordy paddled out in the heat following Gabriel’s and struggled to find a meaningful score in the deteriorating conditions. Finishing third with a low 2.07 heat total in his heat will see Jordy contest Round 2 against Dusty Payne, who will be eyeing out the heat win as he challenges for the Vans Triple Crown title.

Travis Logie was due to get his last event as a world tour competitor underway in the following heat, but a Grade 1 collateral ligament tear in his knee sustained just prior to the event saw him withdraw from Round 1. He’ll get another chance in Round 2 for an encore should he recover, while Jamie O’Brien will be hoping he doesn’t as he is next in line should Logie withdraw from Round 2 as well.

TomCarrol
Tom Carroll showed he hasn’t forgot how to win at Pipe.

Tom Carroll added another Pipe crown to his name after clinching the Heritage Series win over legends; Sunny Garcia (2nd), Derek Ho (3rd) and Gary ‘Kong’ Elkerton (4th). Hawaii’s Carissa Moore meanwhile, finished ahead of Tyler Wright (2nd), Bethany Hamilton (3rd) and recently crowned world champ Steph Gilmore (4th) in the Women’s Pipe Invitational.

Check out all the heat reviews and highlights from Round 1 of the Billabong Pipe Masters on aspworldtour.com

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