Pro Surfing at Huntington Beach : Thomas Hoping to Ride Title Wave

Marty Thomas continued to glide over the Huntington Beach surf as well as the top-seeded competitors Saturday in the Op Pro Surfing Championships.

Thomas, who is seeded 12th, pulled his second upset in a row with a 69 to 68.5 quarterfinal victory over fourth-seeded Martin Potter of England, the current world-tour points leader. Thomas upset fifth-seeded Tom Carroll of Australia in Friday’s third round.

Thomas will meet defending Op Pro champion Tom Curren in the semifinals today at 8 a.m. The finals are scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

Curren, who is from Santa Barbara but has lived in France the last five months, advanced with a win over Mike Parsons of Laguna Beach, 81.0 to 72.5. Richie Collins of Newport Beach and Sunny Garcia of Waianae, Hawaii, will meet in the other semifinal.

The semifinal matchup with Curren, a two-time world champion aiming for his fourth Op Pro title, has Thomas looking for revenge. Curren won their only other matchup a few years ago.

“I’m going to have to surf really well,” said Thomas, who is from Sunset Beach, Hawaii. “He’s the best surfer in the world in my opinion. I really have nothing to lose.

“It would be a dream come true to take down Tom Curren at the Op Pro.”

Thomas held off Potter in the closing seconds to earn one of the closest victories so far at the championships. He led by only three-tenths of a point when Potter caught a wave with 15 seconds left in the 30-minute heat.

Judges add up the scores of the top four waves to determine a surfer’s overall total.

Potter scored 13.8 out of a possible 30 points, but it wasn’t enough to improve his overall score. Meanwhile, Thomas picked up a wave just before the final horn sounded, scoring a 10.5 and erasing an earlier score of 10.3 to increase his lead by two-tenths.

“I thought about holding him off the (first) wave because I had priority,” Thomas said. “It was a tough move. If I would have taken the first wave and slipped up, then he could have had the second one. Fortunately, we both caught one.”

Thomas said he had to keep his composure in the final minute. He knew the competition was close because he listened to the scores over the public-address system.

“I get that kind of composure from golf,” said Thomas, who has an 18 handicap. “If I fluff one shot, I can always make the next one. Surfing is all about holding your composure. That was a strong force in my success last year on the tour.”

Thomas, 21, jumped from 44th on the tour in 1987 to 12th last year. A four-year pro, he hopes he can get his first win on the tour at the Op Pro.

“I was fifth at the Op last year,” he said. “I’ve always done well at events in California.”

So has Garcia, who beat Rob Bain of Australia, 85.1-82.6, in the quarterfinals. Bain’s elimination marked only the fourth time an Australian hasn’t reached the semifinal of an Assn. of Surfing Professionals event.

“If I would have lost, everyone would have remembered me as the guy who was bumped out by the Australian,” Garcia said. “It was a make-or-break heat.”

Collins defeated Ted Robinson of Manhattan Beach, 90.5 to 65, to make his first semifinal appearance in the Op Pro. Collins said he has used the Op Pro to experiment with new maneuvers.

“I’ve been doing all different kinds,” he said. “I started copying Potter because he’s been winning. I’ve changed my style a lot in the last eight weeks. I’m getting more comfortable with it.”

Garcia said he and Collins have similar styles, which should make the semifinal interesting.

Frieda Zamba, a four-time world champion, defeated Michelle Donoghoe of Australia, 57.5-37, in the women’s semifinals. Zamba, of Flagler Beach, Fla., will meet Kim Mearig of Carpinteria in the finals today at 9 a.m. Mearig defeated Pam Burridge of Australia, 42.5-34.3, in the other semifinal.

“The most important thing for me was to get a wave where I could do more than one maneuver,” said Zamba, the 1986 Op Pro winner. “The waves had no form when they did come in.”