Hiroto Ohhara of Japan claimed the biggest result of his career by winning the Vans US Open of Surfing Men’s QS 10,000 after defeating Tanner Hendrickson of Hawaii in a hard-fought Final. The pair traded waves throughout the exciting bout with the young surfer from Japan holding the lead through the opening half. A strong backside vertical snap from Hendrickson earned a 7.00 and a back-up 5.90 saw him take the lead. Three big turns on the outside from Ohhara followed by a final maneuver on the inside with just over three minutes remaining earned him an excellent 9.17 and a lead change. Hendrickson was left looking for a 7.51 but his final attempts fell short and Ohhara took the historic win. Ohhara became the first Japanese surfer to make the Final at the Vans US Open of Surfing after defeating local favorite Kanoa Igarashi in the opening Semifinal. Taking eight waves to Igarashi’s three, Ohhara edged the win and sent the Huntington Beach local home in third place.
Runner-up Hendrickson caused the ultimate upset in the Semifinal, ousting defending event winner and CT standout Filipe Toledo of Brazil. A heat high 7.17 from Hendrickson for wrapping cutback followed by a frontside air put him back in contention after Toledo took an early lead. The unsponsored underdog was left chasing a 5.03 to eclipse the Brazilian phenom. With eight minutes remaining Hendrickson delivered a series of powerful snaps, netting a 6.07 to force a lead change and leave Toledo in need of a 7.08. The clocked ticked down with the Brazilian hunting the lineup. With just under two minutes left Toledo took a wave but fell on his final maneuver and didn’t get the score, leaving the competition in third place.
A ton more photos in the US Open Of Surfing Photo Gallery.
