Surfing: Slater knocks Toledo out of contention leaving Medina and Wilson to battle for title at Pipe Masters

Eleven-time World Champion Kelly Slater eliminated Brazilian Filipe Toledo from title contention at the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons. The World Title race for 2018 is now down to two surfers - Brazil's Gabriel Medina and Australia's Julian Wilson. In the final heat of round 3 in the pounding surf at the Bonzai Pipeline, Slater outpointed Toledo 15.60 to 6.77 after the Brazilian fell at the end of his best ride of the day. Rankings leader Gabriel Medina, also from Brazil, edged local qualifier Seth Moniz, 14.30 to 11.83 in his heat. With six minutes on the clock, the 2014 World Champion dropped into a final Pipe bomb and made it out clean for a 6.60 and advance into Round 4. Julian Wilson, second in the World Surf League's rankings, remains the only surfer who can challenge Medina. The Australians survived a close encounter against Brazil's Miguel Pupo to reach Round 4.