After five days on hold, the Pro Pipeline men’s draw, the first round of the 2023 pro circuit, resumed on Tuesday at the Backdoor/Pipeline spot on the North Shore of Oahu. The 16th finals were therefore finally able to be launched and they did not spare the Frenchman Maxime Huscenot.
After coming out of the repechage, the Reunionese was opposed to Miguel Pupo. He took six waves, scoring two nice hits (5.37 and 6.77, both on Backdoor) but it wasn’t enough. The Brazilian passes this series for 0.86 points (12.14 – 13) and qualifies for the round of 16. Huscenot finished 17th in this first event of the year and must now focus on Sunset, the upcoming round located not far north of Pipe.
Slater sinks, Florence dazzles
This day saw the exit from the road of defending champion Kelly Slater. The 51-year-old American was beaten by Yago Dora in a very poor series of waves (2.43 – 5.66)… In the 8th round, the triple world champion Gabriel Medina was taken out by Jack Robinson (10 .40 – 11.50). In the quarters, the Australian prodigy will face the terror John John Florence, who surfed his 8th against Miguel Pupo almost to perfection. With a 9.93 and a 9.40, the Haleiwa kid made the show on Backdoor. He totals 19.33 points (out of 20) and proves in passing that he has recovered well from his injury last year.
The nice surprise came from the Italian Leonardo Fioravanti, qualified for the quarter-finals. He will surf against Jordy Smith for a spot in the semis. The competition could end this Wednesday (start around 7 p.m. French time).
The program
MEN
Quarter-finals
HEAT 1 : Jordy Smith (AFS) vs. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
HEAT 2 : Liam O’Brien (AUS) vs. Caio Ibelli (BRE)
HEAT 3 : Filipe Toledo (BRE) vs. Joao Chianca (BRE)
HEAT 4 : Jack Robinson (AUS) vs. John John Florence (HAW)
WOMEN
Semi-finals
HEAT 1 : Lakey Peterson (USA) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
HEAT 2 : Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW)
