Honolulu rider takes biggest women’s prize ever awarded; Kaua‘i’s Manuel 2nd in Women’s Jr., Maui’s Larsen still alive
LIHU‘E — The biggest prize ever awarded for a competitive women’s surfing event was pocketed by Honolulu’s Carissa Moore, who came through the 60-surfer field victorious to become $50,000 richer, Saturday.
A decisive victory in the final heat of the 2010 U.S. Open of Surfing’s Open Women division made Moore, 17, just the latest wahine to display a victorious Hawaiian style at the famed Huntington Beach wave in California. Kaua‘i’s Malia Manuel won the event in 2008, as well as the Pro Junior event at last year’s U.S. Open.
Manuel was attempting to repeat and defend that title, competing in the Pro Junior final, Saturday. This time, she came up just shy of the championship, finishing second to American Sage Erickson for the crown.
Lahaina’s Granger Larsen, who was still alive in both the Open Men’s and Pro Junior divisions entering Saturday’s action, pulled off a huge upset in the Open event, knocking out current No. 5-ranked ASP surfer Adriano De Souza to move on to the quarterfinals.
He wasn’t as lucky in his semifinal heat of the Pro Junior, placing third in his four-man heat to come up one round shy of the final.
Moore got the day started by defeating Lakey Peterson, who lives up the coast in Santa Barbara, in their semifinal head-to-head heat. It turned out to be a dominant performance for Moore, as she scored the five top waves of the heat, her two best giving her a 13.27 total.
Peterson managed points on only four waves, her top two amounting to a 5.33 score.
In the other semifinal, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons came out ahead of Brazil’s Jacqueline Silva in a close battle, Fitzgibbons coming away with the top three scores and a 13.33 to 10.70 victory.
The final between Moore and Fitzgibbons did not provide many opportunities, but Moore took full advantage of her rides. She totaled just three waves, but nabbed a 7.67 on her final effort to clinch the title with a 12.50 to 3.83 win.
“I was pretty nervous because I only had two four-point scores,” Moore said. “Sally (Fitzgibbons) is gnarly and is a great competitor and I knew when that last set came, if I didn’t get on it Sally would have gotten the score easily. I’m just so on top of the world right now, I’m so psyched.”
Winning the biggest prize in women’s surfing history left Moore almost in disbelief.
“It is really amazing to win this event,” Moore said. “I just can’t even believe it right now. It just seems really surreal. That Final went by so fast and I wish I could have done some more surfing, but I’m just really stoked.”
The runner-up finish was not what Fitzgibbons had been hoping for, as she has now come in second place in the last three ASP Women’s World Tour events.
“My time is obviously around the corner,” Fitzgibbons said. “I wanted to win that one, but there are more events and it’s great that Nike put up the extra money. It really added to the excitement and hopefully next time I catch a few more waves.”
The Women’s Pro Junior event re-convened for the final heat as Manuel had her sights set on a repeat, but Erickson came out on top in the four-surfer heat to grab the $2,500 first-place prize.
Erickson got things started with a 6.00 score on her first ride, which ended up the highest of the heat. Australia’s Laura Enever stayed in the mix with a 5.00 on her first score, but she found nothing else to work with and finished fourth with a 6.67 total.
Manuel’s 7.56 total was just enough to stay ahead of O‘ahu’s Coco Ho, who claimed third with a 7.00 combined score. Manuel and Ho took home $1,000 and $800, respectively, for their efforts.
Erickson was glad to take home the top prize this year after coming up just short in 2009.
“I came in second last year with Malia (Manuel) getting the score in the last couple of seconds,” Erickson said. “It was hard. I’m just glad to come out this year and win a Junior with such a prestigious final. This is pretty much my best win because it’s the U.S. Open. It feels great to win in front of all of these people.”
Larsen continued to capitalize on what has been an uncertain Huntington wave as he moved into today’s quarterfinals, upsetting De Souza by a 14.10 to 13.00 score.
“I knew going into that heat it was going to be hard,” Larsen said. “They had to restart the heat because no waves came. That actually made me relax a little bit. Then that first set came and I got the better of the exchange. I felt good and had a feeling that I could beat him. I had priority at the end and knew I only needed a small score. That perfect left came and I got the score, I’m stoked.”
The score he was referring to was a 6.77 on his third and final wave, which eliminated his 2.90 second wave and moved him into the lead.
The reward for Larsen is now a head-to-head battle with nine-time ASP world champion Kelly Slater, who knocked off Australia’s Adrian Buchan, 14.77 to 11.44.
Current No. 1 ASP ranked surfer Jordy Smith, of South Africa, moved on in the opening heat, besting Brazil’s Gabriel Medina, 11.17 to 7.24.
Miguel Pupo continued his big week as the Brazilian edged out Australia’s Bede Durbidge, 14.33 to 13.00.
Brazil’s Jadson Andre knocked off Australia’s Nic Muscroft, 9.50 to 8.00 in the third heat. Aussie Mick Fanning then topped American Cory Lopez, 14.93 to 13.27.
Larsen and Slater took down heats five and six, before Nathaniel Curran bested fellow American Patrick Gudauskas, 16.27 to 10.73.
The final heat was won by American Brett Simpson, who dominated with a 17.14 to 7.23 win over countryman Dane Reynolds.
The final three rounds of head-to-head heats are on tap for today, with the quarterfinals beginning at 8 a.m. PST (5 a.m. HT), followed immediately by the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for noon (9 a.m. HT).
The Men’s Pro Junior final is scheduled for 10:57 a.m. PST (7:57 a.m. HT), after Saturday’s semifinals. The final four consist of two Americans and two Brazilians as buddies Evan Geiselman (15.17) and Kolohe Andino (12.49) took first and second, respectively, in the first semifinal.
Alejo Muniz (15.73) and Pupo (12.83) then moved on in the second, as Larsen (11.33) took third.
For information and results, visit www.usopenofsurfing.com.
An ASP release contributed to this report.
