Final day of spectacular action on the North Shore of Oʻahu, Hawaii as Tyler Wright and Barron Mamiya win the Lexus Pipe Pro presented by YETI. Second career final for Leonardo Fioravanti at Pipeline, who ties Mamiya’s score and narrowly misses out on the win
For the second time, the leading Italian surfer reaches the final of the first competition of the World Surf League circuit, which also started this year from Banzai Pipeline. This time, a new important page in the history of Italian surfing in the world has been written, because Leo managed to get where he had never arrived before, or rather he had never arrived so close.
February 8th marked the third time Fioravanti reached a Pipeline Finals Day and this time it was a head-to-head against the local hero, the 22-year-old Mamiya, who had already surprised everyone last year with a sensational victory. It is not easy for an Italian to excel in the midst of the Hawaiian crowd cheering on a talented local surfer on his home waves, but Fioravanti did it. If in 2023 (SEE HERE) he had achieved a deserved but unpretentious second place over the winner Jack Robinson, this year Leo objectively deserved a victory, and the total score of the final confirms this: 17.97 against 17.97, a perfect tie. The WSL rules state that in the event of a tie, the surfer with the highest score on a single wave wins, and Mamiya prevailed on this one thanks to an incredible backdoor tube, which earned him a 9.80 to Leo’s 9.10.
On social networks, the tam-tam of comments is going around pointing the finger at a distorted judging criterion, which wanted to favor the Hawaiian to the detriment of the Italian. The controversy was fueled not so much by the evaluation of the single wave, which objectively was better than Fioravanti’s, but by the fact that the combo of the two scores coincided to the hundredth, bringing the two surfers to parity which would inevitably have then disadvantaged the Italian. 9.80 against a 9.10 can be fair? This is the main question. Maybe yes, maybe no, because even just a 9.11 from Leo’s tube would have been enough to overturn the final result. A question of hundredths, or rather of a hundredth…
Here’s how the whole heat went between the two finalists:
Aside from the hundredths, the show offered by the two athletes, both in great shape, was truly unique. After avoiding the buzzer-beater on Jake Marshall (USA) in the quarterfinals, Mamiya proved determined by putting on a show in the semifinals, when he left the 2019 world champion Italo Ferreira (BRA) lacking a score combo to overcome his almost perfect combination of 18.90 on the total. In each heat of the competition, the totals of Mamiya’s two waves were composed of a Backdoor wave and a Pipeline wave, and there was no shortage of perfect 10s. Once the final started, the local hero immediately replied with this strategy also against our Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA).
After opening with an 8.17 Pipeline, Mamiya quickly earned two more Backdoor scores, including the famous 9.80 mentioned above, all within the first six minutes of the 35-minute final. Meanwhile, Leo Fioravanti struggled to find a score until almost the first 20 minutes into the event. But after breaking the ice, the Italian quickly turned things around. First he surfed an 8.83 wave, then a stunning backdoor tube, allowing him to match Mamiya’s totals.
These are Fioravanti’s words at the end of the competition: “I’m proud of myself and I’m excited to be here. Barron [Mamiya] had me in the combo, but I thought: you know what, two Backdoor waves can be enough. And to need a 9.11 to then get a 9.10, well that was tough. It’s tough, but I’m very proud of myself for coming back and giving myself this chance. Congrats to Barron. He’s one of the greatest Pipe surfers of all time. I really believe that.”
Great show also among the girls
Reaching her third final on Oahu’s most famous wave, two-time World Champion Tyler Wright (AUS) today claimed her 17th Championship Tour victory. The Australian took over the yellow jersey and is now ranked No. 1 in the world. Wright previously won at Pipeline against five-time World Champion and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore (HAW), when the women’s event moved from Honolua Bay at the start of the 2021 season. Wright lost to home-grown surfer Carissa Moore in 2023, but today, she defeated reigning World Champion Caitlin Simmers of the United States to climb back to the top of the podium.
“This is a really special win,” Wright said. “I’m always a little scared here because I’ve been injured so many times. This year is one of those times where it’s been really nice. Last year, I was injured a lot more than usual, so to come back and win is just special.”
The two Pipeline finalists represent two distinct generations, one 30 (Wright) and the other 19 (Simmers), but they have already shared a final in 2023 at the Rio Pro, where Simmers won. Today the roles were reversed, but the American started with an early advantage. Then both lost high scores after a few wipeouts, before Wright found her first notable score midway through the heat. Her barrel on Backdoor proved to be the deciding moment of the final, earning Wright the win.
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Women’s Final Results:
1 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 7.70
2 – Caitlin Simmers (USA) 3.94
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Men’s Final Results:
1 – Barron Mamiya (HAW) 17.97
2 – Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 17.97
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Women’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 15.17 DEF. Lakey Peterson (USA) 9.83
HEAT 2: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 17.67 DEF. Molly Picklum (AUS) 16.13
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Men’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Barron Mamiya (HAW) 18.90 DEF. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 10.33
HEAT 2: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 16.57 DEF. Ian Gouveia (BRA) 9.34
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Women’s Quarterfinal Results:
HEAT 1: Lakey Peterson (USA) 6.50 DEF. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 1.50
HEAT 2: Tyler Wright (AUS) 11.84 DEF. Caroline Marks (USA) 3.50
HEAT 3: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 14.50 DEF. Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 1.43
HEAT 4: Molly Picklum (AUS) 8.10 DEF. Brisa Hennessy (CRC) 1.03
Lexus Pipe Pro Presented by YETI Men’s Quarterfinal Results:
HEAT 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 15.17 DEF. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 15.10
HEAT 2: Barron Mamiya (HAW) 14.50 DEF. Jake Marshall (USA) 14.00
HEAT 3: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 15.17 DEF. Kelly Slater (USA) 9.26
HEAT 4: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 15.67 DEF. George Pittar (AUS) 8.00
