| Ben Player wins the GoPro Pipe Challenge 2013 |
| Saturday, 02 March 2013 12:23 |
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Ben Player has conquered the GoPro Pipe Challenge 2013, after defeating Jeff Hubbard, Pierre-Louis Costes and Dave Hubbard, in pumping 8-10 foot waves, at Banzai Pipeline.
With only two minutes remaining, Player was searching for a 6.21 or better to take out the final. Scooping into a heaving Pipe set wave, the Australian negotiated his way through a long barrel and topped the wave off by launching an invert off the closeout to earn himself 7.38 out of a possible 10 points. Victorious, Player was carried up the beach to the podium by good friends and past Pipe Champions, Ryan Hardy and Andrew Lester, accompanied by a cheering crowd of Australian supporters. Player, a two-time world bodyboarding champion, had never been able to claim a victory at the infamous Banzai Pipeline. Isabela Sousa claimed a convincing victory in the Ladies division, defeating Minami Hatekayama, Karla Costa-Taylor and Saro Ohhara. The Drop-Knee division featured a hotly contested final, taken out by South African Sacha Specker, defeating Hawaiian wave wizard and multiple Drop-Knee world champion, Dave Hubbard, Dave Winchester and Cesar Bauer. |











