Lower Trestles saw some strong surfing Thursday as the men’s Hurley Pro and the Swatch Women’s Pro each completed a round of their World Championship Tour events. Kilauea’s Sebastian Zietz finds himself heading to the elimination round two and current women’s No. 1 Carissa Moore was knocked out by Lakey Peterson, which will ensure a new top-ranked woman following this contest.
After the women plowed through three rounds on Tuesday, Wednesday was a lay day. Getting into the water for the first time Thursday, the men followed the women’s pattern with plenty of upsets and big scores. Zietz paddled out in the seventh heat with Brazil’s Adriano De Souza and Spain’s Aritz Aranburu. After a decent start, Zietz saw his competitors pick up the better waves. De Souza had three straight killer rides and looked at ease in the small but ideal San Clemente conditions. His first big score ended up as a throwaway when he kept bettering himself, finishing with a 16.77 two-wave total. Aranburu kept himself in the mix, but still needed a 9.54 in the closing exchange and he wound up in second place.
Seabass finished third in a combination position, totaling a 9.50 on his two best efforts. He entered Trestles having reached the third round in six straight events, a feat that has kept him above the qualification bubble and in 18th position for the season. If he is to make it seven straight, he’ll have to take out Portugal’s Tiago Pires. Pires is a bit more desperate for a result, coming into this contest in 24th place on the year. A loss for Seabass wouldn’t be a killer since he still has one throwaway score to work with, but it would give him less wiggle room for the rest of the season.
The top two seeds on the men’s side both fell in their opening heats. Gabriel Medina, who has built a solid lead in the world title race, saw Costa Rica’s Carlos Munoz make a great WCT debut and win their first-round heat. Munoz had strong support on the beach as the first Costa Rican ever in a WCT contest. He made it a clutch performance in a close heat, needing a 7.53 and earning a 7.73 on his final wave to advance directly to round three. Medina will have to take on fellow Brazilian Raoni Monteiro in an elimination heat.
It was also a second place for Kelly Slater, who was taken out by local wild card Tanner Gudauskas. The whole “Gudang” crew was on the beach cheering Tanner on as he pulled off the upset, needing an 8.37 on his final ride and receiving an 8.50. That means Slater will have to take on France’s Jeremy Flores in round two.
Adrian “Ace” Buchan and Oahu’s Freddy Patacchia also pulled off first-round upsets, while Owen Wright precisely ripped up a right for the day’s best score, notching a 9.43 on his way to a heat victory.
In the women’s competition, the field was narrowed from 12 to eight, setting up the quarterfinals. It won’t include Oahu’s Moore, who will take an Equal Ninth for the first time all season. The last time Moore missed the quarters was an Equal Ninth at the Beachley Classic in August of 2012. With Alessa Quizon also losing to Johanne Defay in the fourth round and Kauai’s Malia Manuel and Alana Blanchard each falling during Tuesday’s second round, Coco Ho is the only remaining Hawaii surfer.
After a slow start against Peterson, Moore needed a 7.67 with about five minutes left and went to work on a solid right. She did what she could but the score came back as a 6.93. Peterson went on to better her situation with an 8.17 to move further in front and ultimately pull off the upset, setting herself up to now take on Ho in the quarters.
Fellow Aussies Laura Enever and Stephanie Gilmore battle in the opening quarterfinal heat, followed by Peterson taking on Ho, Sally Fitzgibbons against Bianca Buitendag and finally Tyler Wright against Defay.
The Dawn Patrol morning show will be shown live on Oceanic Surf channels 250 and 1250, starting at 4:30 a.m. Friday morning (7:30 a.m. local time). Contest officials will determine if the athletes will be back in the water, or if they’ll be waiting for a new swell.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
