And it's off to Pipe we go!

By scraping through his Round 3 heat, Kelly Slater takes the title showdown to the last competition of the year - the Pipe Masters. And scrape Kelly did, a buzzer beating wave by opponent, Dusty Payne, saw him launch, spin, invert and land a critical air rev that looked like it'd knock the Great Bald One out of title contention. The judges thought otherwise and pulled Dusty up short in a result that would've had Gabriel Medina, his Dad, board caddy, travelling fluffer, and half the country of Brazil throwing chairs if it happened to him.

In fact Gabriel did throw his own critical air rev in Round 3 but he got a deserved 9.53 and so all chairs in the vicinity stayed grounded.

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All photos ASP/Kirstin, Rowland