The two most prestigious titles in surfing are simultaneously up for grabs in just a few days’ time. The final event of the 2013 season takes place annually at the Billabong Pipe Masters, which will this year determine both the Association of Surfing Professionals World Champion and the Triple Crown of Surfing champ.
Just two competitors have a chance to take home the ASP title, with Australia’s Mick Fanning currently holding the points lead and Kelly Slater, the only surfer who can unseat him from that spot, in second place. For Fanning, this would be his third world championship and his first since 2009. Slater is attempting to capture his 12th world title, a sum that seems more unbelievable every year. The Floridian’s first came back in 1992 and he’s still in peak condition more than two decades later, winning back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011 and finishing second in 2012.
The scenario isn’t all that complicated. Slater must win at Pipe to win the ASP crown. Anything less than a first-place finish for Slater gives the title to Fanning. Even if Slater were to win Pipe, Fanning could still win the ASP title by finishing Equal Third or better.
There are many more scenarios in play for the Triple Crown. With two of the three events completed, no single surfer has grabbed hold of the crown as Sebastian Zietz did last year, winning the Reef Hawaiian Pro and taking third at the World Cup, before finishing Equal Fifth at Pipe.
Those two early results put the Kilauea surfer in the driver’s seat last time around.
This year, Zietz sits in seventh place heading into the Pipe Masters. He has a pair of quarterfinal finishes, taking an Equal Ninth each time to total 4,800 rating points.
Zietz is the only surfer to have reached the quarters of both events, so a top finish at Pipe would still allow him the opportunity to defend his Triple Crown title.
Tahiti’s Michel Bourez and Oahu’s Ezekiel Lau are tied for the lead with 7,200 points. Bourez took home the opening jewel with a win at Haleiwa and Lau charged to the top finish at Sunset Beach. But each only managed an Equal 33rd in their other event, leaving the door open for a host of surfers to remain in contention.
Freddy Patacchia had an opportunity to seize control after finishing runner-up at Haleiwa, but he was unable to advance out of the Round of 32 last week and sits in third place overall with 6,500 points.
With one final appearance and one low finish for each, Damien Hobgood (5,850 points), Jeremy Flores (5,150) and Raoni Monteiro (5,100) hold the next three positions.
Following Zietz, Dane Reynolds (4,600), Adam Melling (4,500), Dion Atkinson (4,370), Frederico Morais (4,113), Adriano de Souza (4,100), John John Florence (4,100) and Josh Kerr (3,900) round out the top 14 spots in the rankings.
Kauai’s Evan Valiere (2,313) is tied for 30th and Gavin Gillette (2,000) is tied for 32nd.
As a reference point, Zietz had 10,950 points after two events last year and had clinched the Triple Crown by just reaching the quarterfinals at Pipe. This year will likely have far more wrinkles because of all the names still in the mix.
With 6,500 points awarded for first place, all those in that top-14 list would have a very real chance at the Triple Crown with a victory at Pipe, though the 48-surfer field (compared to 128 for the first two events) will limit just who can make a run and makes each heat that much more valuable and difficult.
With Fanning and Slater each on a world title quest, no surfer eyeing a Triple Crown victory would be happy to see either of their names in a man-on-man heat.
The Billabong Pipe Masters is set to get underway on Sunday with a waiting period running through Dec. 20.
• ‘My Thoughts Exactly’ appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in The Garden Island. Email David Simon your comments or questions to dsimon@thegardenisland.com. Follow David on Twitter @SimonTGI
