The surfing legend Kelly Slater has once again put his best foot forward to begin 2023. The 50-year-old is participating in his 31st Billabong Pro-Pipeline event this year. Slater began the tournament on February 1st against two known competitors in the surfing world, Caio Ibelli and Carlos Munoz. In 2023, the Pro-Pipeline event has been organized in Banzai Pipeline, Oahu, Hawaii.

Day one of the Champions Tour in Pro-Pipeline began with an exciting and gorgeous show by the surfers on the high surfs. Although unfortunately, a few of them got eliminated as well. Kelly Slater also got promoted to the Round of 32 after showing a good performance on day one of the events. 

Kelly Slater got through the Opening Round

The surfing legend from America has been competing for more than three decades now. Moreover, he has won 11 World Titles and 55 career victories. In the opening round of the Billabong Pro-Pipeline, he was against Ibelli from Brazil and Munoz from Costa Rica. However, Slater comfortably got through this competition, as Munoz didn’t attempt his second wave due to injury, and Slater was way ahead of him on the score line.

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To begin with the heat details, the waves were 6-8′ high and the conditions were pretty calm during the round. The average score scored between the three surfers was 6.51 as the number one, Caio Ibelli scored 10.44 (5.77+4.67), Kelly Slater scored 8.60 (4.93+3.67) and Carlos Munoz scored 0.5 in the first round.

Both Slater and Ibelli have avoided the elimination and now have moved to the Round of 32. Further, Slater will be competing in Heat 10 against Yago Dora from Brazil. Whereas, Ibelli will be competing in Heat 7 against the host surfer Ezekiel Lau. Dora stood 19th in the Men’s Championship Tour Final Ranking, whereas Lau was in the 25th spot.

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If we have a look at their head-to-head statistics, Kelly Slater leads Yago Dora with 2 wins. Moreover, Slater has far more experience than the Brazilian surfer. Only time will tell, what will happen in the Round of 32. What is your prediction for Kelly Slater this year? Let us know in the comment section.