Mick Fanning progresses to round four, keeps title hopes alive

Today, there is a very, very good chance that a world champion will be crowned at the Billabong Pipe Masters. As of first heat, Mick Fanning, Filipe Toledo, Gabriel Medina, Adriano de Souza (and very distantly, Julian Wilson) were in contention. At first look this morning Pipe is big, straight, and ugly. There’s a big rip running through it. We’re thinking that it could be a day of twos and anticlimax. But then, Gabs paddles out and starts picking the eyes out of the unruly conditions, winning his heat against Jordy Smith. And in the fifth heat of round five, Mick Fanning beat Jamie O’Brien to progress to round four. Mick scooped an early 8.47 Backdoor wave and a back up 3.67 Pipe wave, which was enough to overcome a picky Jamie O’Brien, who could easily have been a spoiler but isn’t as competitively savvy as Mick and waited too long for the perfect bomb that’d never arrive. And so, Mick keeps his title hopes alive for another round. And with that, Julian Wilson is officially out of contention. More to come soon.