Last Updated on February 9, 2022 12:54 pm by Erwin Noguera
The Hurley Pro Sunset Beach is the second stop of the 2022 Championship Tour and will see the world’s best surfers tackle one of the more demanding, wide-ranging lineups on the North Shore of Oahu.
While Pipe may be the jewel in the North Shore crown, Sunset is a legitimate proving ground in its own right, and will test the ability of surfers to read the lineup and be in the right place at the right time; sunset can frustrate and delight in equal measure and requires nuanced wave selection and timing to enjoy its full potential.
It’s a wave that can confuse even the best in the world; it requires all the paddle fitness and years of experience surfers can throw at it.
That’s why it is still one of the premier proving grounds for surfers from across the globe.
It’s a big, open-ocean wave about as powerful as they come.
If you get caught inside at Sunset, you won’t be forgetting about it in a hurry.
Top Contenders – Hurley Pro Sunset Beach – 2022 Surf – Men’s Favorites:
Top 4 Men’s Favorites:
John John Florence: 4/6 Odds
WCT Ranking: No.11
After an incredible winter (thus far) on the North Shore, not naming John John Florence as the favorite to win at Sunset Beach would be crazy.
JJF won the 2021 Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa in December, then went on to dominate the HIC Pro at Pipeline a few days later.
He put together a mind-blowing performance at the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout and at the press, is about to pocket another virtual VANS Triple Crown win.
The Hawaiian flag-waving Goldielocks is a lock as far as most bettors are concerned.
But Sunset is a fickle wave and while JJF rides its rumbling face with the best of them, there are others who are equally impressive on its walls when conditions are prime.
Jack Robinson: 4/6 Odds
WCT Ranking: No.12
No one would consider a Robinson prediction to win at Sunset Beach to be a stretch.
The wave is tailor-made for the Australian who charges similar conditions in Western Oz.
Everyone remembers Robinson’s controversial win at the VANS World Cup at Sunset Beach in 2019, where judges blew it by not making an interference call against Robinson who impeded upon a Zeke Lau ride.
Asterisk aside, it was a well-earned victory.
It’s hard to bet against this guy at Sunset, so you may as well wager a little something on Robinson.
Ezekial Lau: 8/1 Odds
WCT Ranking: No.22
Zeke should have won at the VANS World Cup at Sunset Beach in 2019 if it weren’t for the above-mentioned Jack Robinson interference.
He knows it, and he’s hungry to prove it.
He has the frame and strength to manage the wave even when it’s at its heaviest.
Zeke also knows that to make the midseason WSL cut-off he needs to perform well during the Hawaiian leg of the WSL season.
He has shown that he can rise to the occasion through 2021, not because of winning ABC’s Ultimate Surfer, but because he backed that “result” up by coming in 2nd on the WSL Challenger Series.
Lau will come out guns-blazing at Sunset so that he can pocket a strong result, if not an outright win, before leaving Hawaii for the MEO Portugal Pro.
Kelly Slater: 12/1 Odds
WCT Ranking: No.18
For Slater, Sunset Beach has been his Achilles heel, and there is no word to confirm his participation in the competition as of yet.
In fact (or because of his lack of results) he had been a critic of the WSL’s inclusion of Sunset Beach for the VANS Triple Crown and is surely no fan of it being added to the 2022 tour.
For Kelly Slater, 2022 is his swan song prior to retirement, and a strong start was a given after taking the victory at the Billabong Pipeline Masters.
Seeing as he may not make the Australian leg of this year’s tour (he won’t be vaccinated) he will throw everything he’s got into Hawaii.
If he pulls out an Akila Aipa (who he recently partnered with) board from his quiver to compete at Sunset the GOAT will be a threat.
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