LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i’s Leila Hurst and Nage Melamed each took second place in surf events on different continents, this weekend. Hurst was competing at the 2010 Quiksilver Roxy Pro Junior in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She came through her first
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i’s Leila Hurst and Nage Melamed each took second place in surf events on different continents, this weekend.
Hurst was competing at the 2010 Quiksilver Roxy Pro Junior in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She came through her first three heats of the competition with victories, then came up just short in the final, topped by Brazil’s Diana Cristina, 7.10 to 5.90.
Her run began as she advanced in Round 2, winning her heat with an 8.53 score. Cristina also advanced in the same heat, putting up a 7.47.
Round 3 saw Hurst again come away with a first-place finish, notching a score of 10.50 to move into the semifinals.
Hurst got by Brazil’s Barbara Segatto in the head-to-head semi, 8.83 to 4.54, moving into the final for her eventual second-place finish.
The result netted Hurst $900.
Melamed headed to Australia for the Ripcurl Pro Bells Beach Gromsearch, where she competed among an international field of eight top-level young surfers.
She got going immediately, putting up the highest score of Round 1 and topping the other three surfers in her first heat with an 11.44. She displayed patience and used her final two waves, which included a 6.67, the highest-scoring wave of the first round.
The first-place finish advanced her directly into the final heat, which included Australia’s Brodie Doyle, New Zealand’s Alexis Poulter and South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag.
Nage put up a 5.63 on her second wave, but Buitendag nailed the event’s highest score with a 7.50 on her second wave, putting the pressure on the rest of the field. A 6.83 to close her session was the icing on the cake for Buitendag’s first-place finish, totaling 14.33.
An 8.86 total was just good enough for Nage to grab second and hold off Doyle, who put up an 8.60 tally. Poulter took fourth with a 7.10.
Wednesday saw the end of the line for Andy Irons and Roy Powers, who were into the fourth round of the Ripcurl Pro Bells Beach, hoping to advance into the quarterfinals.
It was not to be, as Irons was topped by local favorite, Taj Burrow, 17.77 to 11.93. Burrow set the bar high with an 8.77 on his first wave, then closed the door with a 9.00 shortly thereafter.
Powers paddled out in the very next heat, and had to compete with another huge scoring effort, this from South Africa’s Jordy Smith. On his fifth ride, Smith scored a 9.80, receiving a perfect 10 from one judge, and went on to a 17.30 to 13.77 victory.
Brazil’s Adriano de Souza and Australia’s Mick Fanning also moved into the quarterfinals, before officials ended the day with half of the Round 4 heats remaining.
No Hawai‘i surfers are still in the competition.
Coco Ho and Melanie Bartels were the highest-finishing Hawai‘i surfers in the women’s event, each reaching the quarterfinals.
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore took first, knocking off Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich in the final heat, 14.67 to 10.00.
