1. Gabriel Medina (BRA)’s World Title hopes were on the line this afternoon in Round 3 when the Brasilian faced lethal replacement surfer Seth Moniz (HAW) in pumping surf. The Hawaiian was first to put a serious number on his scorecard with a good barrel on backdoor for a 6.33 that pressured Medina to answer. The current Jeep Yellow Leader Jersey stuck to the lefts and rode a critical tube for a 7.70 to turn the situation but Moniz kept chasing waves and once again jumped in the lead with a 5.50 on his backhand. With six minutes on the clock, the 2014 World Champion dropped into a final Pipe bomb and made it out clean for a 6.60 and the win into Round 4.

2. Julian Wilson (AUS): Julian Wilson survived a close encounter against Brazil’s Miguel Pupo to advance to Round 4. Wilson posted a strong 6:00 ride mid heat to secure the lead but during the final minute Pupo only required a 2.61 to steal the heat. Wilson survived some heavy wipe-outs as he chased excellent scores and won the heat to go into the final day chasing the World Title against Brazilian Gabriel Medina. Medina and Wilson are the two remaining in the title race for 2018.

3. Kelly Slater (USA): Slater was the World Title spoiler today, eliminating Brazilian Filipe Toledo in Round 3 which closed out Toledo’s chances of claiming this years World Title. Slater was brilliant riding deep barrels and even falling inside a barrel and somehow recovering and to ride out of the barrel. The World Title race for 2018 is now down to two surfers – Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and Australia’s Julian Wilson.

4. Filipe Toledo (BRA): Fantastic ride in the final that was so close to a perfect 10 but the Brazilian champion falls at the last second! Interviews with Filipe English and Portuguese.

Other surfers included on today’s newsfeed platform include heat winners – Jordy Smith (ZAF), Conner Coffin (USA), Ryan Callinan (AUS) and Joan Duru (FRA)

There’s an excellent chance tomorrow will be finals day with great waves forecast and the 2018 WSL World Title to be decided between Gabriel Medina and Julian Wilson along with a 2018 Billabong Pipe Masters Champion for 2018.
Billabong Pipe Masters Round 3 Results:

Heat 1: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 8.77 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 2.43

Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.16 def. Michael February (ZAF) 2.56

Heat 3: Conner Coffin (USA) 13.00 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 6.40

Heat 4: Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.70 def. Connor O’Leary (AUS) 7.36

Heat 5: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 8.00 def. Griffin Colapinto (USA) 5.24

Heat 6: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.30 def. Seth Moniz (HAW) 11.83

Heat 7: Yago Dora (BRA) 5.27 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 2.64

Heat 8: Julian Wilson (AUS) 8.43 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 7.00

Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.20 def. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 1.10

Heat 10: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 7.17 def. Wade Carmichael (AUS) 2.84

Heat 11: Joan Duru (FRA) 8.20 def. Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 4.86

Heat 12: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.60  def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 6.77

Billabong Pipe Masters Round 4 Matchups:

Heat 1: Ryan Callinan (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF), Conner Coffin (USA)

Heat 2: Michel Bourez (PYF), Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Gabriel Medina (BRA)

Heat 3: Yago Dora (BRA), Julian Wilson (AUS), Joel Parkinson (AUS)

Heat 4: Jesse Mendes (BRA), Joan Duru (FRA), Kelly Slater (USA)