The second day of the Volcom Pipe Pro saw some great rides, some huge wipeouts and some big upsets Monday at Pipeline. The event that began with 112 competitors is down to 38, with three more heats still to go
The second day of the Volcom Pipe Pro saw some great rides, some huge wipeouts and some big upsets Monday at Pipeline. The event that began with 112 competitors is down to 38, with three more heats still to go in the Round of 64 when action resumes.
It’s been a tough event for many of the local surfers with just 12 of the 38 remaining from Hawaii. For the Kauai group, the first two days were difficult to navigate. Reef McIntosh and Pancho Sullivan are still in the mix, both competing in the final heat of the Round of 64.
Alex Smith and Dylan Goodale had also reached the Round of 64 with some strong early performances, but both were eliminated in the same heat Monday, when Charles Martin and Conner Coffin took the top two spots.
With the top eight Hawaii finishers all gaining automatic entry into the year-ending Pipe Masters, the next few heats will be of great importance to that distinction. Six of the 12 remaining Hawaii competitors are already into the Round of 32. They are Olamana Eleogram, Dusty Payne, Freddy Patacchia, Kalani David, Torrey Meister and last chance qualifier Jamie O’Brien. Despite having to qualify, O’Brien has shown his usual Pipeline excellence, notching two of the top nine wave scores to this point of the event.
Hoping to still join that Hawaii contingent in the next round are Kai Barger, Kiron Jabour, Mason Ho, Hank Gaskell, Sullivan and McIntosh, who will all compete in the final three heats of the Round of 64.
One of the event favorites was a shocking elimination on Monday when two-time Triple Crown champion John John Florence saw Evan Geiselman steal the spotlight in their four-man heat. Geiselman made all the right moves and found the right rides for a two-wave total of 18.53. That effort put the pressure on Florence, but it was Parker Coffin who stepped up into second place, blasting one 9.40 ride on his way to a 13.23 total. Florence’s casual bombs never took shape and he was limited to just a 4.40 and 2.67 for a disappointing fourth. It was a far cry from the display he put on in November during the 2013 Pipe Masters, maneuvering all the way to the final where he was bested by Kelly Slater.
Florence and Slater were the two heavyweights to enter the Pipe Pro and Slater fared much better than the young prodigy. The 11-time world champion was far from dominant, but he picked his spots wisely among the limited opportunities of his heat to take second place with a 10.60 total. Chris Ward had the first-place performance with a 14.10 total.
While Geiselman was the story of the day, some other notable performers were Tanner Gudauskas, Mitch Coleborn, Damien Hobgood and Nate Yeomans, who all advanced. Sunny Garcia, Joel Centeio, Keanu Asing and Ian Gentil were all eliminated.
Small waves and a dropping swell caused another lay day on Tuesday, though event organizers are optimistic about an approaching swell. The official forecaster, Surfline.com, projected another Northwest swell to have begun arriving late Tuesday night and into today.
Stay tuned to volcompipepro.com and channels 250 or 1250 on Oceanic Time Warner cable for the latest details and information.
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