Maybe it’s just me, but I was pleasantly surprised at the waves yesterday. Again, could be me, but I thought it was supposed to be blown to shit throughout the majority of this waiting period, similar to what we saw for Day Two. Clearly mistaken. Note to self – learn to read charts and forecasts better.
From the first wave of the day it was evident we were in for a long, enjoyable day of surfing. And from the first 30-ish minutes of the day it was apparent we could be in for more priority and interference blunders. One thing I want to mention – Slater also talked about it in (spoiler alert) one of his post heat interviews, I kind of wish Sunset was still surfed as I imagined it would be: 7’2 pin tail step ups, taking off way out the back and riding the waves all the way through, mixing in those patented power hooks where they fit. Rather, today we see the field sitting on the inside, riding smaller boards, and “catching the edge of it” as Mr. Slater put it. Let’s examine the happenings.
ROUND OF 32
HEAT 1 – Jack Robbo vs. Carlos Munoz
It might not have shown in the Elimination Round, but Jack looks comfortable and confident in that Yellow Jersey. He started off solid with a 5 point ride and never looked back. Carlos was combo’d just as the second heat of the day was joining them in the lineup. A high 6 near the end of the heat was a nice consolation to give him an opportunity, but it was not found. Down goes the well-liked Costa Rican. There was an interesting situation to go down towards the end of this heat which will be covered next.
HEAT 2 – Sammy Pupo vs. Leonardo Fioravanti
Sammy must not have seen Jack Robbo when he took off on his first wave. That’s the only thing I could think of when the young Brazilian accidentally burned Jack, who was in the priority heat. He only caught 3 more waves, nothing over a one point ride. Leo left the door wide open for Sammy, he only needed a high 6, but less than a 7 point ride – something very attainable- to in the heat, even with interference. The Pipe Pro runner up squeaks by.
HEAT 3 – John Florence vs. Ian Gentil
Brett Simpson was in the booth for this heat and made note of Ian not really being tapped in for the entire beginning of this heat. Maxime had a similar showing yesterday. Maybe the rookies don’t understand or have any comfort in these overlapping heats. Something to keep an eye on going forward. Ian fought back hard at the end of the heat, but came up just short. John did not look as pristine as we thought he might. More on this later..
HEAT 4 – Callum Robson vs. Nat Young
Nat snagged both of his keeper scores underneath the priority of the previous heat, and his first wave was actually under priority of Callum. Nat started quick and grabbed a comfortable lead early, never looking back. CalRob had a shot at the end, but could not find the wave he needed, which would have been the best wave of the heat. Callum is out. One goofy to R16.
HEAT 5 – Ethan Ewing vs. Keanu Asing
If you were watching the contest live, chances are you were fired up for this heat. We had already seen Jack Robbo and John John. Ewing joins that elite company in the fact that we all expect something excellent when he is in the water, especially if there is an open face to be had. Even if his turns were a bit horizontal, based on the sheer power displayed, I still felt he was a bit underscored in this heat. Keanu had an uphill battle since the moment his name was scribbled next to Ethan’s. The wildcard bows out.
HEAT 6 – Kelly Slater vs. Jake Marshall
I’m not sure if Jake Marshall was riding the wrong board or what, but it looked like he could not stop chattering on the face. More so than Kelly winning the heat, I think Marshall just kind of handed it to him. He didn’t look like he was trying too hard. Kelly cruises to another surprising Sunset heat win.
HEAT 7 – Gabriel Medina vs. Rio Waida
Providing one of the highlights of the day was Medina on this 8.17, under priority of not only the previous heat, but also Rio. When something like that happens in a heat – a World Champ and one of the fiercest competitors ever drops an excellent score on you, under priority, in the first 10 minutes of the heat – it’s got to be a daunting position. The Indonesian rookie did well to surf his way back into the heat, but was swiftly left in the dust when Gabby combo’d two hammers with a finishing floater for a 7.77, one again under Rio’s prio. Medina rolling. Two goofies in R16.
HEAT 8 – Griffin Colapinto vs. Liam O’Brien
This was a good heat. LOB looks appropriate on a bigger board. Griff has been putting in a ton of time in Hawaii. On paper, and in my opinion, this was pretty evenly matched. Griffin got the upper hand early – a 7.83 to Liam’s even 4. A few minutes before they took over as the priority heat, a nice exchange finally saw Liam with the advantage on a 5.17. This wave didn’t even look like Sunset to me, just an absolutely perfect looking barrel that spit him out easily. If he were to take off deeper he may have won this heat. From that point forward, Liam sat and waited for the 7.50 that he needed. And truth be told, I thought he had it. You can be the judge here. No matter what we think, Griff gets the win.
HEAT 9 – Filipe Toledo vs. Eli Hanneman
Filipe won the heat with his first wave – a smaller, inside, foam filled wave (no wonder) that the judges threw a 6.17 at (how??). In comparing this wave and Liam’s (which was about 6 minutes later), I don’t know how Liam’s is not an 8. They were in separate heats though, obviously, and Flip easily skated by Eli, because the Hawaiian wildcard couldn’t muster anything over a 1.73.
HEAT 10 – Barron Mamiya vs. Seth Moniz
Back-to-back contests now the good friends from HAW have matched up in the Round of 32. Back-to-back contests now Seth has gotten revenge on Barron for knocking him out of this very event last year. This heat was interesting not only because of the faceoff, but due to Seth’s board swaps. After getting spit out of a pretty hefty bowl for a 6.83, Seth opted to move down in board size. He then had 2 slips outs that did not look good. It’s unclear if he switched back to what he was originally riding, but it took those 2 falls to finally shut the door on Barron. Last year’s event winner sat for about 17 minutes with priority before getting the boot.
HEAT 11 – Miggy Pupo vs. Kolohe Andino
Unbeknownst to me, Miguel Pupo was 4-0 against Andino coming into this heat. These are the types of stats I need to be watching. I would not have had Kolohe on my fantasy team. Nothing of consequence came in the first 20 minutes of this heat when they were under priority. Nearly 10 minutes passed after they took over as the main heat before Miguel got a low 4. Kolohe couldn’t find a wave he liked for about 8 minutes. He finally picks one out that he is much too deep for, and directly behind him Miggy grabs the best wave of the heat for a 7. Needing a mid-range 7 and not knowing it, Kolohe’s last ditch effort was a pretty nice barrel, into a pretty ugly three point turn – in relation to driving (stop, go, stop, go). He comes up short, 5.5. Board thrown on the ground, stomped, snapped, and folded in half. Cringey pity party. Or passion party? You decide. Three goofies through to R16.
HEAT 12 – Caio Ibelli vs. Ryan Callinan
Something happened to me today while watching this heat. Caio was losing with about 11 minutes on the clock when he got this pretty sick 8.17. I was thinking about how Ibelli was really impressive last year, and started this year off really hot. I started looking at how the winner of this heat will face Miguel, which could be a favorable matchup. I’m realizing how Caio could start off with two keeper results when, in 2nd prio, he sneaks into a wide insider for this 6.17. I know I watched the replay, but all that I could see was this group of letters flashing before my eyes. A – D – R – I – A – N – O. Could Caio win a world title? He won this heat.
HEAT 13 – Italo Ferreira vs. Michael Rodrigues
I could not believe Italo’s opening wave of this heat; a literal jaw-dropper. The airborne takeoff was something to behold. How he recovered and got a clean in and out tube was just ridiculous. Something to see for yourself. Italo advances with two 6’s. MRod looked a bit shaky, or nervous. Four goofies to R16. My fantasy team in shambles.
HEAT 14 – Yago Dora vs. Joao Chianca
Yago’s first turn was an absolute cracker, and if he came out of the obvious exit that the barrel provided instead of running it into the closeout, I wonder what the score would have been. I thought he had this heat. He was getting scored 4’s and above for one turn waves. 5 minutes after taking over priority though, Joao started cooking. And he turned up the heat quickly. 7 point ride. Four minutes later, 8.17. Four minutes later, 8.5. And the Yago was seared.
HEAT 15 – Jordy Smith vs. Matthew McGillivray
The bottom right side of the bracket was stacked. I seriously could see any one of these 4 taking the event home. Jordy is a past winner, facing the ever stylish, smooth operating McGillivray. South African vs South African. Mentor vs. Prodigy. Matty Ice got out to an early lead. Jordy looked out of sorts. His wave selection, aside from his last one, was suspect. Falling on the last maneuver of his last wave didn’t help, but I don’t think it would have been the whole point he needed to advance anyway. McGillivray moves on.
HEAT 16 – Kanoa Igarashi vs. Jackson Baker
Controversial one here, and much more evenly matched than you might expect. Jacko packs a punch, while Kanoa is so calculated. The clash of styles was interesting. They got out to about an even start, Kanoa’s 5 just bettering Jackson’s 4.5. The competition robot that is Igarashi then built on his score of course with a strong 6.33. Just as their heat took over priority, Jacko belts an 8.17 to take the lead. Kanoa makes a rare mistake picking a bad wave with priority. Baker takes advantage, bettering his backup score and leaving Kanoa needing an 8.67 with just over 6 minutes remaining. Jacko has priority when Kanoa sneaks in a high 7. Still with priority, and Kanoa still needing a 7.31, Jacko takes off on a decent looking wave but goes down on his second turn up into the lip, leaving the door open for Kanoa. Igarashi finds the wave with 1:45 on the ticker and leaves it up to the judges. A delayed top turn, a chattery bottom turn into a decent speed check turn, finished with a sloppy lip line hit into a floater. One judge said no – 7.0. Two judges put it right on the money, but short – 7.3. Two judges said yes – 7.5 and 7.8 He gets the score, a 7.37, and Kanoa “rips another man’s heart out” as Strider put it.
ROUND OF 16
HEAT 1 – Jack Robinson vs. Leonardo Fioravanti
A rematch of the Pipe Pro finals. I’m not going to say I called it – little too early for that and a lot can happen before the cut, let alone the end of the year – but Leo looks really in form. Solid, confident, fresh and recharged. Leo surfed a really good heat. Based off of manuevers in this specific heat, Leo might have gotten it. Jack just happened to pick out the waves that offered really clean, good looking barrels. Jack sends home his old counterpart Leo with a 9th place this time around. Robbo into the Quarters.
HEAT 2 – John Florence vs. Nat Young
Upset alert. I’m talking about Giants with Sheli Manning beating the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl kind of upset. A multitude of reasons led to this matchup being heavily favored for John: the conditions (pumping Sunset), his home (North Shore), no goofy making the QF’s last year, and coming into this matchup being 4-0 against Nat. As much as the Santa Cruz native won this heat, JJF lost it. John’s total would have lost him every heat in this round. If it were up to me to say, I would blame the board. There was board talk all day through the event, and John was riding something presumably too small. He fell on 4 of his 6 waves. Nat’s highlight was two big hooks into the lip for a 7.60. One goofy to the Quarters.
HEAT 3 – Ethan Ewing vs. Kelly Slater
If Nat could do it, so could Kelly? I don’t think so. This heat was divisive to the bare eye; Ewing was burying the rail as we expected, while Slater was barrel hunting. Kelly would have had to snuck into something really, really special to get through this one. Joao did find a wave with just a barrel on it, no turns, that got scored an 8.5. Kelly needed something like this, but was unable to track it down. Out goes Mr. Slater, albeit with a better result than we expected – 9th place.
HEAT 4 – Gabriel Medina vs. Griffin Colapinto
Bit of a slow heat that didn’t really open up until they were in the priority heat. I really thought Griffin got massively overscored on his first wave, a 5.10 for one turn, pretty steep. He did get the best wave of the day, a well earned 8.83. Medina got busy trying to find himself a low 8 under priority, but was unable to sneak into what he was looking for. Griffin with a much needed result, into the QF’s. You could feel his relief in the post heat interview.
HEAT 5 – Filipe Toledo vs. Seth Moniz
I thought Seth was primed to get a good result here. Now that the Woz offers the bracket after the Elimination Round, it’s easy to follow along and try to predict some results. I would have figured either Barron or Seth would have a pretty big advantage over Filipe because they are at home, and the waves are pumping. Unfortunately, Seth tried to outsurf Flip on the smaller, inside rides, which is tough to do. Wave selection and choice will always be the route to beating Filipe. Last year’s World Champ moving on.
HEAT 6 – Miggy Pupo vs. Caio Ibelli
It is so clear to me now; Hawaii loves Caio, and Caio loves Hawaii. That’s what I have to attribute this to as of now. Maybe I need to respect him more and just admit that he knows how to read the ocean insanely well. Whatever it is, Caio is quickly becoming a talking point for anyone paying attention to the tour. Pete Mel mentioned how he and Kelly were just conversing about how impressive Caio has been of late. With this momentum, confidence, and connection, Miggy fought an uphill battle. Caio handily takes down his Brazilian buddy with two 8 point rides.
HEAT 7 – Italo Ferreira vs. Joao Chianca
Joao is in fine form right now. The kid just looks like he wants to win it more than anyone. The only one surfing with close to as much aggression is Jack Robbo, though they have different approaches. He got out to an early lead with a couple mid range 4’s. Italo nabbed back-to-back keeper scores just before they took over as the priority heat. Once he had his pick of the litter, Joao did not miss. After winning his last heat on the merit of barrels, this was an impressive victory on the back of some sharp, violent turns. He did get one little head dip on his 8.40, and then followed that up with a clean in and out bowl for a 7.87 that would not be kept in his scoreline. Joao looks like a favorite to meet Robbo in the Final.
HEAT 8 – Matthew McGillivray vs. Kanoa Igarashi
Coming off an upset victory over Jordy, McGillivray was primed for another underdog slight. With Kanoa being the runner-up here last-year, and putting up a 15+ point heat total last round for a squeak through victory, he was in a good position to make another deep run. So we thought. Matt got the better of the first exchange, snagging a wave that didn’t even look like Sunset Beach for an 8 point barrel ride through a keg. He backed this up with a 7 point ride that could have put the nail in Kanoa’s coffin early, had he landed his last lip line hit. 5 minutes after taking over the entire lineup – this was the last heat of the day – Kanoa battled back with a strong 7.77. McGillivray waited for the wave he wanted and carved his way to better his backup score for a 7.17. Now needing a 7.41, Kanoa pulled the trigger with under 2 minutes left. Texts were flying out “are they giving him the score again?!”. I thought the claim might have done it for him. Turns out the judges maybe gave a little payback to Kanoa for letting him slide through the last round. Score comes up short, 7.07, and McGillivray takes what was supposed to be Jordy’s spot in the Quarters.
QUARTERFINALS – UPCOMING
HEAT 1 – Jack Robinson vs. Nat Young
HEAT 2 – Ethan Ewing vs. Griffin Colapinto
HEAT 3 – Filipe Toledo vs. Caio Ibelli
HEAT 4 – Joao Chianca vs. Matthew McGillivray
Looking at this bracket, you can guess at what the vast majority is thinking. Jack vs Ethan and Filipe vs Joao. From there anything could happen, especially given the conditions today. Personally, I would give a slight nod toward Filipe just because of the waves.
The women’s Round of 16 is on right now. Renato Hickel said this may be the best day for the remainder of the waiting period, so we could see another full day of surfing. I think the call is up in the air, I haven’t heard anything official yet, I’ve been tuning in and out. After that day yesterday, it’s hard to watch the groveling right now.
Something random – my fantasy team got completely demolished. Matty Ice would have, could have been the pick of the event in Tier C. Anyways, enjoy this slop fest if you’re watching. I’m gonna take care of some things with one ear on the contest. Will check back tomorrow with some coverage of today.
Cheers,
hwilsin