TRIPLE THREAT NEVER MORE REAL THAN IN THE THIRD ROUND

Comment Share Posted on Saturday December 12th 2009 at 1:10 p.m. Tweet

PIPELINE, Oahu/Hawaii (Friday, December 11, 2009) - The Billabong Pipe Masters is about to ignite and all eyes will be on the actions of three surfers. Two of them have been the talk of town for weeks - Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning, who are the contenders for the ASP World Title, and one who is a complete dark horse whose performance will determine the success of the other two: Torrey Meister (Hawaii). Meister, a 21-year-old who has a ranking of 48th on the final 2009 ASP Qualifying Series, has unexpectedly become the linchpin of the Vans Triple Crown "Triple Threat", presented by Rockstar Energy Drink.

Meister got his start yesterday after six-time Vans Triple Crown champion Sunny Garcia (Hawaii) arrived too late for his first round heat and subsequently lost his spot. Meister went on to blow doors against Australian seed Nic Muscroft with what would be the second highest scoring heat of the round - 14.83 out of 20. In round two today, he claimed the scalp of world No.16 ranked Kai Otton (Australia), methodically closing the door on his season.

Shoot ahead to the upcoming third round that is highly likely to hit the waves tomorrow morning, and Meister will be Parko's best mate - for the moment - charged with the task of a dark horse trample of current world number one Fanning. The pair will go head-to-head in heat two. Surfline.com forecasts waves to be in the 10- to 15-foot face range tomorrow.

BUT, should Meister pull off the incredible and eliminate Fanning, he then becomes a threat to Parkinson's hope of sealing the $50,000 Vans Triple Crown series win, breathing down his neck and definitely within shot of the win.

"I'm definitely the dark horse," said Meister. "I don't really have much pressure and they've got the world title race."

"Winning the Triple Crown would mean the world to me. I don't have much to lose. I feel comfortable at Pipe and way more comfortable surfing here than anywhere else in the world. Either way it goes, Mick is one of my favorite surfers. If I beat him it would be amazing. If I don't, I lost to someone amazing and who deserves whatever he gets.

"It's always in the back of my mind," said Meister of the Vans Triple Crown $50,000 bonus. "I've got a long way to go but it would be sick if it happens. I'd be psyched!"

Parkinson and Fanning are making their way towards the crown and the world title on opposite sides of the draw. Fanning's top half is top-loaded with Andy Irons (Hawaii) and Kelly Slater (Florida), who between them account for 10 Pipe Masters titles and six Triple Crowns. Down below, Parkinson's side of the draw has just two Pipe Masters title owners in Bruce Irons (Hawaii) and Bede Durbidge (Australia). Parkinson has to win his third round heat to keep his world title hopes alive.

With $90,000 on the table for the Billabong Pipe champion, another $50,000 on offer to the Vans Triple Crown champion, and an added $50,000 purse for the world champion, the pressure is on.

Just half a day of competition was held today, making use of the tail of a record week of waves that were still clean and perfectly barreling at around 6-8 feet. Heats nine through 16 were held and Vans rider John John Florence (Hawaii) and Dean Morrison (Australia) ruled the day. Both of them are headed into Fanning's side of the draw tomorrow.

Florence, 17, has lived and breathed Pipeline from birth, going to school directly across the street from the contest site at Sunset Beach Elementary school, and first hitting the waves here when he was still in single digits.

Florence continued his run of fine form in the Backdoor barrel rides, posting the second highest heat score of the event in round two. The natural-footed super talent showed little regard to Brazilian competitor Heitor Alves by locking in a 9.43 and a 9.47 in the 40-minute-heat. Florence also posted the third highest heat score of 17.20 in round one yesterday.

"Conditions were perfect today and the waves dropped just a little bit, but it was still really fun," said Florence. "I think if it was little bit bigger it could be really perfect Pipe.

"I think I have an advantage because I know all the little peaks, boils and all the different cracks in the reef."

Morrison, 28, is one of the original "Cooly Kids" - a trio of youngsters from the Queensland Gold Coast town of Coolangatta that pushed each other from knee-high days to the top. Who were the other two? Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson. Don't overlook the potential for damage from Morrison. Two years ago Morrison reached the final here, placing second to Durbidge.

Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 6:30am to assess conditions for a possible 8am start.

The action of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing will be broadcast live in HD on the web with the support of our HD partner FUEL TV at triplecrownofsurfing.com, as well as on Hawaii television on Oceanic channel 250.

For the first time ever, the Billabong Pipe Masters will be live on TV in the United States on FUEL TV. FUEL TV will broadcast the finals of the event - the final stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. This will be the first-ever live broadcast of an ASP World Tour event in the United States. In addition, the Billabong Pipe Masters will also be broadcast live on FUEL TV in Australia and Portugal.

For Billabong Pipe Masters highlights, videos, photos and more log on to:
www.triplecrownofsurfing.com

Making the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink possible: Reef, O'Neill, Billabong, Gidget Worldwide, Nixon, Turtle Bay Resort, Hawaiian Airlines, JN Automotive Group, Surfing Magazine, Surfline.com, FUEL TV, The Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaiian Springs Water, Road Runner, Climb On! chemical-free skincare, and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP). The Series is proud to announce that it is working with local company Tr3ees to embark upon a greener, more sustainable future.

VANS TRIPLE CROWN OF SURFING CONTACT:
Jodi Wilmott

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com

BILLABONG PIPELINE MASTERS ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Liam McNamara (HAW) 7.94 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 6.83
Heat 2: Roy Powers (HAW) 10.26 def. Gabe Kling (USA) 10.06
Heat 3: Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 10.40 def. Greg Emslie (ZAF) 3.83
Heat 4: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.00 def. Mason Ho (HAW) 10.67
Heat 5: Bruce Irons (HAW) 15.67 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 13.93
Heat 6: Shane Dorian (HAW) 11.17 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 8.33
Heat 7: Michael Picon (FRA) 19.76 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 16.73
Heat 8: Torrey Meister (HAW) 14.83 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 14.0
Heat 9: Dean Morrison (AUS) 16.93 def. Sion Milosky (HAW) 8.37
Heat 10: Chris Ward (USA) 15.5 def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 14.66
Heat 11: Flynn Novak (HAW) 14.17 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.84
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 18.9 def. Heitor Alves (BRZ) 3.24
Heat 13: Gavin Gillette (HAW) 14.2 def. Mick Campbell (AUS) 8.97
Heat 14: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 13.17 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 13.17 (countback)
Heat 15: Hank Gaskell (HAW) 16.44 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 15.67
Heat 16: Andy Irons (HAW) 18.4 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 9.74