<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;script src=\\\"http:\\/\\/player.ooyala.com\\/player.js?height=360&amp;#038;embedCode=MyYWhpNzpRYY8Zc17ra2aEbA14s9N_yo&amp;#038;video_pcode=tla2U6sQuZL84AFsrTpKS94AKTX7&amp;#038;width=640&amp;#038;deepLinkEmbedCode=MyYWhpNzpRYY8Zc17ra2aEbA14s9N_yo\\\"&gt;&lt;\\/script&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;At 11:40 AM in Hawaii, last years Billabong Pipeline Master Kieren Perrow (again in need of a Cinderella finish to stay on tour) kicked off 2012\\u2019s pinnacle World Tour event with a hard fought victory over Pipe Specialist Evan Valiere, keeping his tour dreams for 2013 afloat. The surf was four feet (we\\u2019re in Hawaii, so we\\u2019ll use their scale) and wonky. Kieren rode a 6\\u20192\\u201d.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;With each heat, the waves grew larger, and so did the boards being ridden. By 4 PM, when CJ Hobgood paddled out against Jamie O\\u2019Brien, the surf was a true six-to-eight foot and the boys did battle on real Pipe surfboards. It was the last (and also the best) heat of the day, with CJ and JOB trading beatings, broken boards, and eight point rides. In the end, JOB was left searching for a high six that never arrived, and CJ took the win. Afterwards, the announcers called it an upset\\u2014which his early exit in firing Pipe certainly is\\u2014&lt;em&gt;but&lt;\\/em&gt;; is it fair to call JOB\\u2019s loss an upset if it was at the hands of one of the world\\u2019s best frontside tuberiders?&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Upset or not, heats like that prove why Pipe is the most intriguing and entertaining event of the year\\u2014the results are always as unpredictable as the wave itself. Also of note, Taylor Knox surfed his last heat as a full time World Championship Tour surfer today when he lost to wildcard Billy Kemper\\u2014and was chaired and cheered up the beach afterwards by the likes of Slater, Machado, and Fanning. To read more about his thoughts on life minus the World Tour, &lt;a href=\\\"http:\\/\\/surf.transworld.net\\/1000155289\\/photos\\/twenty-years-on-tour-with-taylor-knox\\/\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\"&gt;click here&lt;\\/a&gt; (Spoiler alert: He\\u2019s not too bummed).&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Tomorrow, the swell looks to hold (if not build) and both Parko and Slater will hit the water with the 2012 ASP world title on the line. Stay tuned; this thing is just getting started, and we\\u2019re in for a banger. To read the detailed world title scenarios, please &lt;a href=\\\"http:\\/\\/surf.transworld.net\\/1000155246\\/news\\/updated-2013-world-tour-qualification-scenarios\\/\\\"&gt;click here&lt;\\/a&gt;.&lt;strong&gt;\\u2014Zander Morton&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;figure id=\\\"attachment_1000155327\\\" style=\\\"width: 640px\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption aligncenter\\\"&gt;&lt;img src=\\\"http:\\/\\/www.grindtv.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2012\\/12\\/Pipe-Masters-Day-1.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"2012 Billabong Pipe Masters\\\" title=\\\"2012 Billabong Pipe Masters\\\" width=\\\"640\\\" height=\\\"360\\\" class=\\\"size-full wp-image-1000155327\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;figcaption class=\\\"wp-caption-text\\\"&gt;Day 1 of the 2012 Billabong Pipe Masters. Photo: Dorsey&lt;\\/figcaption&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n&lt;strong&gt;ASP Press Release: ASP Top 34 Take on Local Contingent for Round 1 Billabong Pipe Masters&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;BANZAI PIPELINE, Oahu\\/Hawaii (Saturday, December 8, 2012) \\u2013 The Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons kicked off Round 1 of competition today in pumping six-to-eight foot (2 metre) waves at Pipeline, hosting the ASP Top 34 as they battled the notorious local wildcards in an attempt to requalify for the 2013 ASP Top 34.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The 2012 Billabong Pipe Masters, the final stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), will see a showdown for this year\\u2019s ASP World Title and also represents the final jewel of the Vans Triple Crown. Kieren Perrow (AUS), 35, defending Billabong Pipe Masters Champion, got the best of a hard-fought heat against dangerous Pipeline specialist Evan Valiere (HAW), 29, on the opening heat of the day, keeping his hopes of a repeat victory alive.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;\\u201cThat felt like a final,\\u201d Perrow said. \\u201cI was expecting Evan (Valiere) to pull off some bombs. He\\u2019s an unreal surfer out here. We were out of position on those sets, but I\\u2019m glad we were and he wasn\\u2019t in position. It was a nerve-wracking heat being in the first one of the event and I\\u2019m just glad to get the win.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Perrow got off to a tough start to his campaign, only finding a series of small scores and a broken board early on. The veteran rebounded however, finding tubes at both Pipeline and Backdoor in the back half of the heat to secure the win. \\u201cMy boards are both 6\\u20192\\u201d but I\\u2019m bummed I broke the first one,\\u201d Perrow said. \\u201cIt was shaped to be more like a 6\\u20196\\u201d. This other one was a little small. I kind of free fell in to a few and I\\u2019m glad to get a couple of scores. I didn\\u2019t have anything before that.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Yadin Nicol (AUS), 27, current ASP WCT No. 29, kept his hopes of requalifying for the 2013 ASP WCT alive, besting North Shore local Flynn Novak (HAW), 29, compliments of an impressive backdoor barrel to move to Round 2. \\u201cThat was fun,\\u201d Nicol said. \\u201cTo be honest, it\\u2019s a little weird with the overlapping heats. It turned on out there and a few bombs came through. I got smoked a couple of times, we had everything. That view never gets old. I was pretty scared at the time and trying to not thing about that lip coming down on my head. I\\u2019m stoked to get through that heat.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Wildcard Kalani Chapman (HAW), 30, capitalized on his veteran experience, posting two standout performances in the building swell. Chapman advanced over two impressive hurdles, besting Tiago Pires (PRT), 32, and Adrian Buchan (AUS), 30, to advance to Round 3. \\u201cI just paddled out and knew since the first heat had priority that I wanted to move around and get as many waves as possible. That was my game-plan and it started out really well. I was stoked to get a really good start and I hope it happens every time.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Chapman opted for a slightly larger board than most of his competitors and feels his more buoyant equipment helps not only with paddling, but navigating through foamy barrels. \\u201cRiding a big board isn\\u2019t always about catching the wave. Sometimes when you\\u2019re in the barrel the foam-ball will explode out in front of you and a big board will help you ride out over it. It\\u2019s working. I\\u2019m just stoked to be surfing in the contest. It\\u2019s a dream and I\\u2019m psyching no matter what.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Shane Dorian (HAW), 40, former ASP WCT competitor and big-wave specialist, was deadly in his Round 1 bout, notching the day\\u2019s highest single-wave score of 9.17 out of 10 for a deep backdoor barrel. \\u201cI always start off with a plan, but sometimes it doesn\\u2019t materialize,\\u201d Dorian said. \\u201cI try my best and hopefully get a few nuggets. The conditions were tricky with lots of bumps. I was happy to get that 9 and after that I was just playing defense. I broke my old faithful, I was bummed about that, but I just got spanked out there. It\\u2019s all good though, that\\u2019s what they\\u2019re for.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Sebastian Zietz (HAW), 24, current frontrunner for the Vans Triple Crown and qualifier for the 2013 ASP Top 34, moved one step closer to securing the coveted ASP Specialty Event, taking a Round 1 win over fellow wildcard Glenn Hall (IRL), 31. \\u201cI guess the thing that stuck out most in my mind in that heat was my wipeout,\\u201d Zietz said. \\u201cThe thing just mowed me down. I found a couple of open ones in the end, so thank you Pipeline. I\\u2019m honored to put my names up there with the other guys that have won Haleiwa. I\\u2019ve never done well at Sunset, so making the final was a dream come true. I need to make a few more heats at Pipe and we\\u2019ll see what happens.\\u201d&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 6:30am to assess conditions for a possible 8am start. For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 1 RESULTS:&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 1: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.00 def. Evan Valiere (HAW) 9.50&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) 6.50 def. Tyler Newton (HAW) 6.26&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 3: Kalani Chapman (HAW) 15.83 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 5.70&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 4: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 15.33 def. Flynn Novak (HAW) 9.76&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 5: Fred Patacchia (HAW) 8.43 def. Tanner Hendrickson (HAW) 5.93&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 6: Billy Kemper (HAW) 11.00 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.17&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 7: Adam Melling (AUS) 11.66 def. Bruce Irons (HAW) 7.73&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 8: Jamie O\\u2019Brien (HAW) 16.34 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.94&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 9: Shane Dorian (HAW) 14.50 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 9.83&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 10: Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) 14.73 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 7.84&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 11: Dane Reynolds (USA) 11.34 def. Granger Larsen (HAW) 3.10&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 12: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 14.27 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 10.77&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 2 RESULTS:&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 1: Kalani Chapman (HAW) 13.84 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.60&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 2: Billy Kemper (HAW) 9.33 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 5.04&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 3: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 15.17 def. Jamie O\\u2019Brien (HAW) 13.57&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;REMAINING BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 2 MATCH UPS:&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Shane Dorian (HAW)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Ricardo dos Santos (BRA)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 6: Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 8: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Fred Patacchia (HAW)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 10: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 11: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 12: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 1: John John Florence (HAW) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 2: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 9: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 10: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. TBD&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nHeat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. TBD&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.grindtv.com/surf/2012-billabong-pipe-masters-day-1-highlights/?show=gallery&pid=68623>