Pipeline Winner Moana Jones Wong Awarded Second Wildcard Spot at Sunset Pro

Hawaii's Moana Jones Wong gestures after winning the 2022 Women's Billabong Pipeline Pro at Banzai Pipeline on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, on February 6, 2022. (Photo by BRIAN BIELMANN/AFP via Getty Images)

The winner of the women’s Billabong Pro Pipeline, Moana Jones Wong, has been awarded another wildcard entry into the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach, due to start on Friday.

The North Shore local, who took down two-time world champion Australian Tyler Wright in the semi-final and five-time world champion Hawaiian Carissa Moore in the final at Pipeline, was the first wildcard to win a Championship Tour (CT) event since Wright herself at Sunset Beach in 2010.

Jones Wong will now enter the Hurley pro as world number 1, paddling out in the yellow jersey, World Surf League (WSL) reported.

Since Wright’s 2010 win as a wildcard, hundreds of wildcards have given it a shot without success, which illustrates how extraordinary Jones Wong’s achievement is, and the fact that it was the first full-length women’s CT event at Pipeline made it extra special.

The last man to win a CT event at Pipeline as a wildcard was Jamie O‘Brien in 2004, but like O’Brien, Jones Wong has spent a lot of time in the line-up at the famed break, which showed in her wave choice, positioning, and composure on the big left-hand barrels.

She had also come off the back of a win at the HIC Pipe Pro in December.

“I started surfing Pipe when I was 12, and I’ve been coming here consistently since I was 18,” the 22-year-old said before the Billabong Pro Pipeline.

Meanwhile, men’s Billabong Pro Pipeline winner, Kelly Slater, remains undecided as to whether he'll be paddling out at Sunset.

“This may be it for me; I’m going to have to have a talk with myself before Sunset,” Slater said after the win.

Speculation has been high as to whether he might call it a day, going out on the high after a CT victory, something he hadn’t experienced since 2016 when he took out the Billabong Pro Tahiti.

However, with the 2022 CT schedule including G-Land, Indonesia, and Teahupoo, Tahiti— waves right up his alley—the 11-time world champion could make a serious attempt at a 12th world title.

The Hurley Pro Sunset Beach is the second stop on the 2022 tour, and according to Surfing Australia, the break is a proving ground where surfers will be tested as to whether they can read the line-up and therefore be in the right place at the right time.

It’s a big and powerful open ocean wave that breaks across a sizeable volcanic reef, with six distinct sections that work better depending on the swell direction and wind.

Sunset specialist Pancho Sullivan said that the variability of the waves makes Sunset special.

“There are so many different looks at Sunset. Every day is completely different,” he said.

However, this unpredictability includes the notorious clean-up sets, which surfers don’t want to get caught inside of, as well as the Kammiland rip, which can mean constantly paddling to hold your position.

The Hurley Pro has an event window from Feb.11 to Feb.23, and the wave forecast is looking promising.

Friday should see 4-7‘ wave faces and offshore winds, with size increasing to 6-9’ faces on Saturday. Conditions are expected to be less favourable on Sunday and Monday, with cross-shore winds and waves less than head-high.

Tuesday is when the waves are forecast to really pick up, a long-period WNW swell bringing sets in the double-overhead plus range (10-14' faces), and conditions look promising for the rest of next week.