Moana Jones Wong Steals the Spotlight in Hawaii After Back to Back Championships at Vans Pipeline Masters

Surfing superstar Moana Jones Wong has added another major victory to her records as she aced the 2023 Vans Pipeline Masters Tournament. The contest saw the champion take on the waves of Hawaii to claim the prestigious title for the second consecutive year.

Moana Jones Wong dominated the competition while surfing at North Shore, O’ahu, as she cleared heat after heat. A social media update announced the high-voltage victory of the surfing icon as she rose to the top on 12 December.

Moana Jones Wong gets celebrated by Nathan Florence

Social media celebrity and surfer Nathan Florence, a brand Ambassador of Vans Surfing, took to Instagram to proudly celebrate the victory of Moana Jones Wong. He shared a story with his fans with the caption, “We are so proud of @moana.17 double pipe champ!!!!!!!!” The story also carried a video where Moana Jones Wong was lifted on the shoulders of her team after she bagged the championship.WSL also posted a tweet to congratulate Wong for her triumph.

Wong emerged on top despite the tournament carrying several big names, including Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore. Interestingly, Wong’s chances of winning didn’t look too bright. The defending champ barely made it to the finals and was 13.7 points behind the top seed Carissa Moore.

An astonishing title defense from the dead-last position

Moana Jones Wong was placed in the fifth heat. The 2022 Vans Pipeline Masters Champ didn’t seem to be in top form, as she struggled with the first and the second top-wave scores. While all the other finalists scored more than 20 points in both waves, Wong could only manage meager scores of 17.30 and 18.20. Not getting demoralized by her initial lackluster outputs, Wong gave her all to the third top wave, clinching 28.90 points.

This gave her some time to breathe as she barely made it to the finals. However, her job was only half done, as she now had to defend her title against some of the greatest surfing names. Moana Jones Wong went against Australia’s Molly Picklum, Canada’s Erin Brooks, and fellow Hawaiian Carissa Moore in the finals. Despite finishing dead last in the qualifying leaderboard, Wong didn’t waver and hit her competition hard.

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When the dust settled, Wong finished with the highest score and successfully defended her title. With another win in her bag, the Hawaiian surfer would look forward to acing more competitions with her momentum. Will Moana Jones Wong be able to cruise through upcoming challenges and claim victories in the future as well?

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