Joshua Moniz & Miguel Tudela (Peru) Clinch Wildcard Spots Into Pipe Masters, Maui Pro Canceled Today Following Shark Incident

Mikey Wright and Leonardo Fioravanti are tied after two surf off heats
Opening rounds of Pipe Masters likely to run tomorrow
Next Call: Wednesday, December 9 at 7:00 a.m. HST
The NNW will be declining for the rest of the week with shorter periods. More 3-5′ maybe a few 6′ sets with more Back9door is expected. Conditions will be perfect lite ESE offshore winds the first half of the day…then we’ll see the Am winds competing with onshore seabreezes toward lunch into the afternoon (pending landing heating).

FRONT PAGE: Joshua Moniz, the winner of the Pipe Invitational, will face the world’s best surfers at the Billabong Pipe Masters pres. by Hydro Flask. Credit: © WSL/Tony Heff

BANZAI PIPELINE, Oahu/Hawaii/USA (Tuesday, December 8, 2020) – Joshua Moniz (HAW) and Miguel Tudela (PER) won first and second place, respectively, at the Pipe Invitational and secured their wildcard spots into the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons presented by Hydro Flask, the first stop on the World Surf League (WSL) Men’s Championship Tour (CT).

“I feel great, it’s a pretty amazing feeling, being able to just keep surfing at Pipe, my favorite wave in the world,” said Moniz, 2020 Pipe Invitational winner. “This is probably the best heat I’ve ever had. I grew up surfing against all those guys and I know how good they are. I was definitely nervous, but I’m glad it worked out.”

Despite an empty beach due to COVID-19 restrictions for the competition, a group of Moniz’s family stormed the beach to congratulate him after scoring a pair of 9.60 rides (out of a possible 10) in the finals, including his younger brother, Seth, who will also compete in the Billabong Pipe Masters pres. by Hydro Flask.

“It’s going to be insane, I get to watch my brother surf in some heats, and I get to surf and some heats too,” said Moniz. “Hopefully we will both do well.”

Miguel Tudela (PER) came in second at the Pipe Invitational, also earning a wildcard spot to compete at the Billabong Pipe Masters pres. by Hydro Flask. With a combined score of 13.10 (out of a possible 20) in the Finals, Tudela will make his debut in a CT contest and represent Peru on the main stage of surfing.

“I wasn’t even thinking about coming here until I got a call from Billabong a couple of weeks ago,” said Tudela. “I’m really stoked I made it through to the main event.”

Moniz and Tudela, however, already have a big challenge ahead. Both surfers will be welcomed into Pipe’s lineup by the Brazilian Storm. Moniz will face two-time World Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) and 2015 World Champion Adriano de Souza (BRA) in Heat 5 of the Seeding Round, while Tudela will have to go through 2019 World Champion and reigning Pipe Master, Italo Ferreira (BRA) in Heat 6.

A First For Hawaii

The competition began at 8:00 a.m. today at the legendary Banzai Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore. The WSL CT usually ends with the Billabong Pipe Masters, but for the first time ever, the competition kicked off the 2021 season. Many surfers from Hawaii, like Moniz and Ezekiel Lau (HAW), who won Heat 8 and earned the highest score in Pipe Invitational’s Round of 32, enjoyed starting the season close to home.

“It was really fun, the conditions were amazing, the waves were really good,” said Lau, “It’s just a beautiful day, and I’m just really happy to be back to be competing in my own backyard, and just want to thank the WSL and the Hawaii community for making this happen.”

Injury Wildcard Surf-Off

The battle between Mikey Wright (AUS) and Leo Fioravanti (ITA) for a spot on the CT will be decided on the next day of competition. In a new ‘best of three heats’ format, Wright and Fioravanti hit the water twice today, with Wright winning the first heat with a .21-point difference, and Fioravanti taking the second one with a .20-difference on his birthday.

“It’s my birthday present to come out of the second heat with a win,” celebrated the now 23-year-old Fioravanti. “Tomorrow I’ll be all in. I’ve worked all year for this, and I’ll give everything I have to earn my spot.”

Both athletes were injured in 2019. Fioravanti spent some time out of the water after dislocating his shoulder, and Wright suffered a back injury. Conditions for tomorrow are favorable for the second day of the window, which will likely feature the final heat of the surf-off between Fioravanti and Wright, and begin the seeding round of the Billabong Pipe Masters presented by Hydro Flask.

The next call for the Billabong Pipe Masters pres. by Hydro Flask will be Dec. 9 at 7:00 a.m. local time.

The competition will be broadcast live on WorldSurfLeague.com and the free WSL app.

Also, check local listings for coverage from the WSL’s broadcast partners.

The competition will be carried locally in Hawaii by the Spectrum Surf Channel 20.

Update on Maui Pro pres. by ROXY

The WSL has canceled Maui Pro competition today, following a shark incident involving a recreational surfer this morning prior to the start of the event.

The WSL is working with local authorities and our thoughts are with the victim at this moment.

The competition is on indefinite hold until further notice.

View full announcement HERE.

About the WSL
Established in 1976, the World Surf League (WSL) is the home of the world’s best surfing.A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world’s largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties.Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com.

WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.

The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke.

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.