Oceanside Surfing : Curren Gets His Waves to Easily Beat Carroll and Advance to Semifinals

The past two times Tom Curren and Tom Carroll competed against each other in surfing, they provided the most exciting matches of those tournaments.

So when they both won their third-round heats and advanced to a meeting in the quarterfinals of the $42,000 Stubbies Pro tournament at Oceanside Pier Saturday, most of the crowd of about 6,000 on the beach expected the same sort of excitement.

But after a few exceptional rides, Curren beat Carroll easily to advance to today’s semifinals.

Curren made the best of his waves. In his third-round victory over Cheyne Horan, he waited patiently for 11 minutes--nearly half the allotted time--before taking a wave.

In the quarterfinal, Curren found more than enough waves to his liking, scoring 96 of a possible 120 points for the day’s highest total.

“I surfed the waves when they were there,” Curren said. “I had to play a game of positioning out there. There were a lot of lulls between waves, so you have to capitalize when you can.

“I recognized that this was a big heat, but I didn’t get up more than usual. Theory has it that when you get through a heat like this, you can make it through the rest easily. But what it really means is that you are on a peak and you have to work to sustain it.”

Curren, of Santa Barbara, the current Assn. of Surfing Professionals world champion, and Carroll, of Newport, Australia, who finished second in points, met twice last season.

Toward the end of the season, with the waves 12-15 feet at the Swan Premium contest at Margaret River, Australia, the two were virtually even after three waves. Carroll had a better final wave to edge Curren for the championship.

The two also met in the finals of last season’s Stubbies contest, and Curren won a close match.

Carroll had finished second in the Stubbies three years in a row, but things have not gone as well for him lately. The Stubbies is his first contest of the ’87 season.

Carroll fell off his board last May--toward the end of the season--during a contest in Japan. The point of his board speared him in the hip, sidelining him for several weeks. After he had recovered, he injured ligaments in his calf during a practice session. After that, he perforated his left eardrum when the side of his head hit the water after a fall during practice.

Carroll appeared to be surfing well in his third-round victory over Merrick Davis on Saturday, but he had problems against Curren. He fell twice and didn’t do much with the waves he did ride.

Carroll declined to talk to reporters after the heat, but Curren said it did not appear that Carroll’s injuries were bothering him.

“I don’t think they affected him that much,” Curren said. “He’s been surfing well. I considered him a prime threat.”

Curren will meet 1977 world champion Shaun Tomson of Los Angeles in today’s semifinals. Tomson upset current ASP points leader Barton Lynch of Manly, Australia, in the quarterfinals.

In the other semifinal, Mark Occhilupo of Cronulla, Australia, will surf against Michael Burness of Durban, South Africa. In the quarterfinals, Occhilupo defeated Greg Winton, of Newport, Australia, and Burness beat 17-year-old rookie Sunny Garcia of Hawaii.

The men’s semifinals begin at 8 a.m. The semifinals of the women’s Michelob Cup tournament, also at Oceanside Pier, begin today at 7 a.m.