BANZAI PIPELINE, Oahu, Hawaii, where the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons, is the final stop on the 2018 World Surf League (WSL) Men's Championship Tour (CT), opened on Saturday and holds a competitive window through to Thursday, December 20, 2018.
The Billabong Pipe Masters will cap off the season to determine the 2018 Men's World Champion and the winner of the prestigious Vans Triple Crown of the Surfing (VTCS). Only three athletes remain in contention to claim the 2018 World Title:Gabriel Medina (BRA), Julian Wilson (AUS), and Filipe Toledo (BRA).
The Men's World Title Scenarios going into the last event of the season, the Billabong Pipe Masters in Hawaii, are as follows:
- If Gabriel Medina finishes 1st or 2nd at the Billabong Pipe Masters, he wins the World Title;
- If Gabriel Medina finishes 3rd at the Billabong Pipe Masters, Julian Wilson and Filipe Toledo will need to finish 1st;
- If Gabriel Medina finishes 5th-25th, Julian Wilson and Filipe Toledo will need a 2nd or 1st at Pipe.
Medina, 2014 WSL Champion, comes into the final event of the 2018 season ranked first on the Jeep Leaderboard. Medina has a 4,740-point lead over his only two challengers, Wilson and Toledo, leaving him little room for error if Wilson and Toledo find their rhythm at Pipe.