Pancho Sullivan of Sunset Beach has become the monster trialist no one wants to face in the Billabong Monster Energy Pro men’s surfing contest. For the second consecutive day, Sullivan was one of the standouts as the second day of competition was completed yesterday. The third round and half of the fourth round were run in 4 to 8 foot surf at the Banzai Pipeline. Sullivan finished 2007 ranked No. 7 in the world, but he willingly accepted a spot in the first round, also known as the trials, and was stoked on just having another opportunity to tackle Pipe without having to deal with the insane crowds that gather there to surf on any given day.

With Andy Irons being eliminated early following an abnormal lack-luster performance, Sullivan remains in the competition as the highest ranked surfer left. Sullivan advanced through three heats on the opening day of the contest, then dominated his fourth-round heat yesterday. His fourth-round win becomes even more impressive when figuring in that the other three surfers in the heat were Rob Machado, Roy Powers, and Myles Padaca. Having surfed Pipeline since he was 12, the now 34 yr. old gave credit of his success to his knowledge and comfort of surfing a break he knows so well. The top Hawai’i finishers will earn invitations to the prestigious Billabong Pipeline Masters contest in December.

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Tags: pipeline

Posted by Cameron on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 in Surfing.

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