LIHU‘E — Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. And then even a few more. The wave of Australian surfers almost monopolized the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing, which had its opening day of competition Wednesday after numerous lay days. To combat the lack
LIHU‘E — Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.
And then even a few more.
The wave of Australian surfers almost monopolized the O’Neill World
Cup of Surfing, which had its opening day of competition Wednesday
after numerous lay days. To combat the lack of swells and time
shortage, the heats were going off at two different O‘ahu breaks,
Kammie’s and Val’s Reef.
LIHU‘E — Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.
And then even a few more.
The wave of Australian surfers almost monopolized the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing, which had its opening day of competition Wednesday after numerous lay days. To combat the lack of swells and time shortage, the heats were going off at two different O‘ahu breaks, Kammie’s and Val’s Reef.
As the field was trimmed down from 128 participants to 32, almost half the surfers remaining hail from down under.
Australia is home to 15 of those still in the event, including the day’s top heat scorer, Julian Wilson.
Wilson, 22, scored a 15.83 out of 20 in the Round of 64 after putting up a 15.00 in the Round of 96.
“It’s really contestable and it’s fun,” said Wilson, who surfed his heats at Val’s Reef, the break close to shore inside the main Sunset lineup. “This morning was the second time I surfed (Val’s Reef) in my heat. If you sit there and watch it for a while you can see which ones are the good ones and which ones aren’t. It’s a fun, little right so it suits me fine. The inside is so shallow that riding your magic board in your heats you don’t really want to risk it too much, but if it comes down to it in the later rounds then there’s definitely some opportunities to do big airs.”
The No. 2 ranked surfer in the world, South Africa’s Jordy Smith, made his way through the day to continue on, including eliminating hometown favorite Sunny Garcia in the Round of 64. As one of the top seeds into this event, Smith only had to surf once Wednesday in the last of the seeded rounds.
“It’s not exactly Sunset, but I heard from the boys that Val’s is a pretty fun wave and I was excited to surf it because I’ve never really surfed it before,” Smith said. “I enjoyed it, it’s a little funkier than I thought, but I definitely had some fun. I think this morning (the other contest site) Kammies looked a lot better than Val’s so hopefully if the tide does the same thing it’s going to get better over there.”
Of the 32 still in the hunt, four call Hawai‘i home, including the young O‘ahu superstar, John John Florence.
Florence, 18, advanced with a 15.06 in his Round of 64 heat alongside Mick Fanning, whose 14.33 total was also plenty good to move on.
Joel Centeio is still alive in his quest for a 2010 Triple Crown championship. The runner-up at the Reef Hawaiian Pro moved into the Round of 32 with a 12.33 score, edging out Chris Davidson’s 11.90 for second place in their Round of 64 heat.
Granger Larsen pulled off a big win in the day’s final heat, moving on with a 15.00 score and eliminating Australia’s Taj Burrow in the process.
Kekoa Bacalso is the fourth Hawai‘i surfer still alive after he won his Round of 64 heat on a 13.23 score.
Seven Americans, four Brazilians and two South Africans complete the field.
Event organizers are planning on completing the event today, as long as conditions are agreeable.
The men won’t be the only focal point as the O’Neill Women’s World Cup of Surfing will also surf to the final heat. World champion and Vans Triple Crown women’s leader Stephanie Gilmore heads the remaining field of 16 women.
Their final is scheduled to hit the water at around 12 p.m., with the men’s to finish at approximately 3 p.m.
Kaua‘i’s Malia Manuel and Alana Blanchard, along with Hawai‘i riders Coco Ho, Carissa Moore and Melanie Bartels are all still alive in the event and looking for big tour points and prize money on the line.
Live internet coverage happens every day, starting at 7:45 a.m. with “THE CALL” — the Triple Crown’s live daily morning show that features all the latest news, highlights and happenings.
The series will also be broadcast live on television around Hawai‘i on Oceanic Time Warner Digital Cable channels 250 and in high definition on HD1250.
