OP PRO SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS : Four County Competitors Win Any Which Way They Can : Surfing: Andino, Parmenter, Parsons and Booth take unusual avenues to reach Round 2.

Dino Andino surfed alone. John Parmenter surfed with a mission. Mike Parsons surfed injured. And Jeff Booth surfed in a panic.

But all four found ways to win Tuesday at the Op Pro surfing championships at the Huntington Beach Pier. They were among the few Orange County competitors who advanced through the first round of the main event.

And they did so in some pretty unusual ways.

Andino of San Clemente won his main-event heat by forfeit over Graham Wilson of Avalon, Australia, the 21st seed. Wilson suffered food poisoning and passed out before his heat. He was later taken to a nearby hospital and released, meet officials said.

Nonetheless, Andino, seeded 44th, surfed the heat alone. He will meet third-seeded Damien Hardman of Narrabeen, Australia, in today’s second round.

Andino’s lonesome venture came an hour after Parmenter pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the day.

Two weeks ago, Parmenter of Huntington Beach was wondering if he would even be invited to the Op Pro. But he earned enough points at the Life’s A Beach competition in Oceanside to qualify and surfed through the Op trial heats this week.

Parmenter then surprised 18th-seeded Vetea David of Papeete, Tahiti, 77 to 73.5, in the first round of the main event.

“You can’t just sit there and idolize some guy,” Parmenter said of the upset. “I look at guys like Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, and guys who go around corners at 200 miles an hour (in Indy cars). Watching those guys inspires me to do bigger things.”

Today, Parmenter will need all the inspiration Bo and Michael can offer. He’ll meet defending world champion and top-seeded Martin Potter of Newquay, England, in the second round of the main event. Potter is coming off his first victory of the season three weeks ago at the Life’s A Beach competition.

“I really want this,” Parmenter said. “I want to beat Potter here in front of my friends and all the judges who love me.”

Laguna Beach’s Booth, seeded 23rd, won the favor of the judges on the last wave of his heat. He scored a 25 out of a possible 30 by taking off with one second left to hold off 42nd-seeded Kaipo Jaquias of Hawaii, 84.3 to 80.3.

“That was probably the closest call of my life,” said Booth, who will compete against 13th-seeded Bryce Ellis of Avoca Beach, Australia, in the second round.

Parsons of San Clemente knows all about close calls. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee two months ago, but Tuesday he cruised to an easy victory over Matt Branson of Perth, Australia.

“I was surfing down at Trestles (near Salt Creek) and I twisted my knee in a weird way,” Parsons said. “I was lucky it wasn’t cartilage (damage).

“I would say it’s (the knee) about 95%. It’s not holding me back at all.”

Parsons will face Marty Thomas of Sunset Beach, Hawaii, in the second round.

“Marty’s going to be tough,” Parsons said. “But when you get this far, everyone is tough.”

Former world champion and three-time Op Pro winner Tom Curren avenged his only loss this year when he beat Fabio Gouveia of Florianopolis, Brazil, 74.5 to 50.5 in the the first round.

Curren, who’s from Santa Barbara but now lives in Biarritz, France, dominated Bouveia from the start, catching eight waves to the Brazilian’s three. Curren will meet Tom Carroll of Newport, Australia, in the second round.

Curren, who won the first three stops on the tour, lost to Bouveia in April in the first round at Narrabeen, Australia. Curren sat out the past two events, at Durban, South Africa, and at Oceanside.

Curren’s lowest finish at the Op Pro was a fifth in the first competition in 1982. He hasn’t finished lower than third since.

Dana Point’s George Hulse, who surfed through the qualifying trials, lost his main event heat by eight-tenths of a point to 24th-seeded Stuart Bedford-Brown of Perth, Australia.

Several county surfers lost Tuesday in the third round of the trial heats. Among those eliminated were Noah Budroe of Huntington Beach, Mike deNicola of Mission Viejo, Chris Billy of Dana Point, Gary Clisby of Huntington Beach, San Clemente’s Shane Beschen and Joe McNulty of Capistrano Beach.

Surfing Notes

Defending Op Pro champion Richie Collins of Newport Beach, seeded ninth, will meet 28th-seeded Luke Egan of Newcastle, Australia in the second round.

Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., last year’s Op junior amateur champion, and Mark Occhilupo of Cronulla, Australia, were eliminated in the third round Tuesday on interference penalties.

The second round of the women’s competition resumes at 7 a.m. today. The second round of the men’s main event starts at 8:20 a.m.

Results

Men

Round 3 (Top two surfers advance to main-event first round)

Heat 1--Tony Ray (Torquay, Australia), Matt Archbold (San Clemente). Heat 2--Dino Andino (San Clemente), Matt Branson (Perth, Australia). Heat 3--Matt Hoy (Newcastle, Australia), Flavio Padaratz (Florianopolis, Brazil). Heat 4--Chris Frohoff (Redondo Beach), George Hulse (Dana Point). Heat 5--Fabio Gouveia (Florianopolis, Brazil), Ryan Alagich (Manly, Australia). Heat 6--Kaipo Jaquias (Hawaii), Rod Kerr (Sydney, Australia). Heat 7--Mike Lambresi (Oceanside), Todd Jacobs (Manhattan Beach). Heat 8--John Parmenter (Huntington Beach), Ted Robinson (Manhattan Beach).

Main event Round 1 (Winner in each heat advances to second round)

Heat 1--Richard Marsh (Cronulla, Australia) d. Jacobs, 83.8-52.0. Heat 2--Parmenter d. Vetea David (Papeete, Tahiti) 77-73.5. Heat 3--Glen Winton (Norah Head, Australia) d. Archbold, 78.3- 78.0. Heat 4--Lambresi d. Greg Anderson (Narrabeen, Australia), 72.8-72.7. Heat 5--Andino d. Graham Wilson (Avalon, Australia) by forfeit. Heat 6--Mitch Thorson (Margaret River, Australia) d. Alagich, 71.5-59.5. Heat 7--Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach) d. Jaquias, 84.3-80.3. Heat 8--Stuart Bedford-Brown (Perth, Australia) d. Hulse, 71.8-71.0. Heat 9--Simon Law (Newcastle, Australia) d. Kerr, 73.0-59.8. Heat 10--Padaratz d. Rob Page (Woolongong, Australia), 83.8-83.5. Heat 11--Mike Parsons (San Clemente) d. Branson, 60.8. Heat 12--Luke Egan (Newcastle, Australia) d. Ray, 88.5-76.8. Heat 13--Hoy d. Hans Hedemann (Kailua, Hawaii), 75.8-74.5. Heat 14--Frohoff d. John Shimooka (Honolulu, Hawaii), 80-79.8. Heat 15--Tom Curren (Santa Barbara) d. Gouveia, 74.5-50.5. Heat 16--Robinson d. Todd Chesser (Honolulu, Hawaii), 66-65.3.