LIHU‘E — It was a single aerial maneuver that was the talk of the day at the U.S. Open of Surfing as the Open Men’s competition narrowed the field down to 24 competitors, Thursday at California’s South Huntington Beach Pier.
LIHU‘E — It was a single aerial maneuver that was the talk of the day at the U.S. Open of Surfing as the Open Men’s competition narrowed the field down to 24 competitors, Thursday at California’s South Huntington Beach Pier.
California’s Dane Reynolds, 24, launched into an inverted frontside 360 on a closeout section, which nabbed the day’s top single-wave score of 9.87. Reynolds cruised into the Round of 24 with a 14.37 heat total for a first-place finish.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Reynolds said. “I just rode this board for the first time yesterday and had a fun session on it so I was a little more confident than normal out there. When the first set came through and I didn’t get anything, I was kind of worried. It was so grey out there I couldn’t see anything. I was on that wave and thought I was going to do turns but then I saw it was closing out, so it was kind of a ‘Hail Mary.’”
The day’s highest heat total went to Brazil’s Jadson Andre, who combined an opening-wave score of 9.57 with an 8.23 to tally a 17.80 score. On each wave, Andre also used single aerial maneuvers to come away with the impressive marks from the judges.
“It’s (Huntington) not one of the best waves in the world, but I think it’s one of the best waves to do one big maneuver,” Andre said. “My hometown in Brazil is the same. I’ve been here several times and I like this place, I like this wave and I’m just stoked to make one more heat.”
Hawai‘i surfers still in the mix for the $100,000 first-place prize had strong performances, with four of the five advancing into the Round of 24.
Kiron Jabour, of O‘ahu’s North Shore, got the day started with a second-place finish in the opening heat, notching a 12.17 total, behind Brazil’s Gabriel Medina (15.60).
Hana’s Ola Eleogram was next up in the second heat and he did not disappoint, continuing his high-scoring event with a first-place finish and a 14.96. He moved on alongside South African Jordy Smith (12.33), the No. 1 surfer in the current ASP world rankings.
Brazilian Miguel Pupo (16.47) and Australian Bede Durbidge (12.76) advanced in the third heat, as did Andre and American Cory Lopez (11.16) in the fourth.
Big scores were necessary in heat No. 5, with Australia’s Mick Fanning and young American Evan Geiselman up to the task, moving to the next round with scores of 15.23 and 14.70, respectively. Brazil’s Jihad Kohdr (12.03) and America’s Tanner Gudauskas (11.70) were eliminated, despite solid scoring.
Kekoa Bacalso, of Mililani, narrowly made it through in the sixth heat, edging out Australian Blake Thornton by 0.07 points for second place. Bacalso (9.37) and another Aussie, Nic Muscroft (10.23), advanced despite few opportunities with no surfer scoring more than four waves.
The following heat provided more drama as Australia’s Adrian Buchan and American Kelly Slater needing to pull off decent scores on their final waves to advance, each coming up with the goods. Buchan scored a 7.60 on his ninth wave and Slater got a 6.47 on his sixth, putting them into first and second with scores of 14.20 and 13.57, respectively. American Rob Machado was the unlucky witness, as his 13.50 total, including an 8.00 to start the heat, was edged out by both.
Lahaina’s Granger Larsen continued to rack up points as he grabbed another first place with a 13.00 score in the eighth heat, advancing with Brazil’s Heitor Alves (10.73).
Hawai‘i’s only casualty of the day came in the following heat when Mason Ho took third place. Brazilian Adriano De Souza finished first (12.60), with Australian Jay Thompson in second (10.10), just besting Ho’s 9.13 score.
Reynolds then advanced in the 10th heat, as did Australian Adam Melling. Fellow Aussie Owen Wright and American Patrick Gudauskas then made it through, knocking off both Taj Burrow and Kolohe Andino in the 11th heat, before Americans Brett Simpson and Nathaniel Curran completed the final 24 in heat 12.
Eight three-man heats are scheduled to begin this morning at 8 a.m. PST (5 a.m. HT), getting down to the Round of 16 tomorrow.
Also on tap for today is the Open Women’s quarterfinals, with Hawai‘i’s Carissa Moore in the opening head-to-head heat against Laura Enever (AUS). That will be followed by Lakey Peterson (USA) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS), Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) vs. Sarah Baum (ZAF) and Justine Dupont (FRA) vs. Jacqueline Silva (BRA).
The Men’s Junior Pro is then slated to begin its quarterfinals with four four-man heats, including Jabour and Larsen still alive, along with John John Florence.
The Women’s Junior Pro final is scheduled for tomorrow, beginning at 2:45 PST (11:45 a.m. HT) with Wailua’s Malia Manuel going after another U.S. Open championship, having won the Open Women’s and Junior Pro the past two years. She will be going up against O‘ahu’s Coco Ho, Enever and American Sage Erickson.
For more information and live results, visit www.usopenofsurfing.com.
An ASP press release contributed to this report.
