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Showing posts with label swell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swell. Show all posts
8/9/15
US Open of Surfing: Mens
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.
8/8/15
US Open Of Surfing: Womens
“I don’t think I can put it into words,” said Defay. “It’s very hard to digest and I don’t know how to say how I feel -- it’s so crazy. I’m very happy to have some of my friends here and I’m thinking of the people back home too. I guess it’s all the work I’ve done before and it’s all come together. I’ve just been sticking to same game plan, trying to get a lot of waves. It was tricky at the start but then I got that score which put me in a better position. I feel really good, last year everything was so new and this year I feel way more comfortable.”
“It’s pretty amazing, I could never imagine that I could win here or that I could win an event,” said Defay. “I just took it heat by heat and it’s so crazy. This is definitely my biggest win. Ending up last year at eighth on the rankings I thought maybe I could do top five so we’ll see what happens this year.”
With this win, Johanne Defay claimed her first elite CT victory. Defay took out Sally Fitzgibbons in a tense Final at Huntington Beach Pier. Defay previously defeated Bianca Buitendag in the Semi-Finals, while Fitzgibbons beat Courtney Conlogue in their heat, which was pretty much wave-less. Sally ended going way south of the surf area to find some waves, while Courtney stood near the pier and unfortunately, no waves come through. Sally ended up getting several waves before Courtney even got one. Fitzgibbons, the 2011 event winner, earned herself a runner-up finish and remains at third place on the Jeep Leaderboard.
A ton more photos in the US Open Of Surfing Photo Gallery.
8/5/15
Supergirl Pro
The nationally televised event is the largest female surf contest in the world, with 108 of the planet’s top pros competing. The fierce competition started early on Friday morning on the south side of the iconic Oceanside Pier, and by the afternoon the field was cut down to 64. Saturday's heats cut the field down to 16 for Sunday's rounds of finals.
The finals came down to a battle of Supergirl podium vets with Courtney Conlogue, the 2009 champion, facing Tatiana Weston-Webb, who took second place at last year’s Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro. Weston-Webb wowed the judges to capture the coveted pink Supergirl cape. Sage Erickson and Nikki Van Dijk tied for third.“Finally!” the 19-year-old Weston-Webb shouted as she was swarmed by fans after being named the winner. “Last year really made me want to win this year! Courtney is amazing, and for me to be here means the world to me. Now I have a lot of confidence going into the rest of this year.“
A ton more photos in the Supergirl Pro Photo Gallery.
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