Australia’s Ethan Ewing currently leads the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title, however by falling out of today’s competition with a Semifinal finish, his hopes of claiming the illustrious title could be overtaken by CT leaders Frederico Morais, Ezekiel Lau or Wade Carmichael, all who are within the top ten spots on the rankings. Ewing earned fourth at the Hawaiian Pro last month, stop No. 1 of the Vans Triple Crown, and backed this up with a third-place at the Vans World Cup of Surfing last week.
“It’s pretty amazing but I don’t think I’ll win, especially just going through this draw is really hard, but I’m really happy to be leading at this stage,” said Ewing. “Feels good to surf Pipe with three other guys out, especially to have a heat with Bruce Irons. He’s been my favorite surfer since forever.”
Machine-like in the consistent, barreling conditions, Jack Robinson followed up his recent victory at the Vans World Cup of Surfing with a Semifinal finish today. Not surprisingly, Robinson led the charge with a powerful performance in Round 1 Heat 1 and set the standard with a 9.00 score for a long, driving Backdoor barrel and a smooth cutback to stamp out excellence. Despite his comfort-level in severe waves, the Australian demonstrated a healthy dose of humility when it comes to respecting legendary Pipeline.
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