SURFING OP PRO CHAMPIONSHIPS : Slater and U.S. Tag Team Beat Australians at Their Own Game
Tag-team surfing began in Australia, but Kelly Slater and the rest of the U.S. team made it look like their national pastime Friday at the Op Pro surfing championships.
The United States led from start to finish, winning the tag-team event with 106.5 points in front of an estimated crowd of 20,000 at the Huntington Beach Pier.
Australia rallied for a second-place finish with 91 points, followed by Brazil (89.5), Hawaii (84), Europe-Africa (80.5) and Japan (73).
Slater, ranked fourth on the world tour, scored 18.0 out of a possible 20 on his designated double-scoring wave, giving the United States a comfortable lead and sparking a bit of controversy.
“I’m sure it was biased for Slater,” said Australia captain Gary Elkerton, who scored a 15 on his double-wave. “Kelly’s one of my favorite surfers, but there were other (rides) better than his.”
Said Hawaii’s Marty Thomas: “Kelly surfed well. I don’t want to say he was overscored, but I thought (Hawaii’s) Sunny Garcia (a 15 score) should have been scored just as well.”
Slater, surfing in his fourth team competition, didn’t argue with the score. He had three solid maneuvers on his wave, riding it to the beach, while Elkerton and Garcia had only one or two big moves on their waves.
Slater also said he had similar scores in past team competitions.
“When you get a good double-whammy wave, it’s a big factor in the contest,” he said. “And that was a big factor.”
Big enough to put the United States in position to make the finals.
The victory gave the U.S. team a 24-14 lead over Brazil in their pool. The winners in each pool advance to Sunday’s finals, where the winning team will earn $20,000.
“We’re off to a good start,” said San Clemente’s Mike Parsons, the U.S. team’s captain, “but we have a long way to go before we win our pool.”
The United States can clinch a spot in the finals by winning four of seven heats against Brazil this morning, regardless of the outcome of today’s tag-team event.
Four heat victories would give the United States a 12-point lead, and the most it could lose to Brazil in the tag-team is nine.
“We want in the finals,” Newport Beach’s Richie Collins said. “We want the 20 grand.”
The race in the other pool is much closer.
Hawaii upset Australia, 162.5-154.5, earlier in the day to take a 20-18 lead in their pool. But the Hawaiians struggled to a fourth-place finish in the tag-team as Australia took a 24-23 lead into tomorrow.
“The tag-team (today) will decide everything,” Hawaii’s Marty Thomas said. “This was just a taste.
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re tied. Whoever finishes higher in the tag team wins it all.”
Thomas, a Seal Beach native, made a costly mistake during the tag-team competition. Surfing first for his team, he was called for interference after colliding with Parsons on a wave.
Five points were deducted from Thomas’ score on the wave, turning a 6.5 ride into a 1.5.
“I put some extra pressure on myself,” Thomas said. “I sat for too long, then panicked at the end.
“Mike and I were aggressive on the wave, and I hoped he would back out. He pushed me, but he was on the inside (of the wave) and I got the interference.”
The Americans were the first to finish, catching the required 15 waves seven minutes before the one-hour time limit expired.
“Our strategy was to have Richie (Collins) and I go first and finish in 10 minutes,” Parsons said. “That would give Kelly, more time to find a good double-whammy wave. Then (Alisa) Schwarzstein went fast and gave Todd (Holland) more time.”
Australia struggled just to finish. Glen Winton, the last Australian surfer, had two catch two waves in the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds and finished with 17 seconds remaining.
Australia also was the only team to start a woman--former world-champion Pam Burridge. Most of the other teams had their women surf third or fourth.
Although slowed by a knee injury, Burridge finished third with a score of 16, placing ahead of Japan’s Takao Kuga, Europe-Africa’s David Malherbe and Thomas.
“I was the weakest link in the team,” said Burridge, who was upset by Hawaii’s Rochelle Gordines earlier in the day. “I went first to give the guys an idea of what they had to do.”
Upset-minded: Hawaii’s upset of Australia in their head-to-head heat Friday was the most exciting matchup of the contest so far.
Garcia lost the opening heat to Elkerton, 18.5-17.5, but Hawaii bounced back with victories by Thomas and Kaipo Jaquias. Australia’s Winton beat Hans Hedemann, 17-14, but Hawaii’s Gordines upset Burridge, 18.5-18.
Garcia and Thomas beat Elkerton and Richard Marsh, 40-36.5, in the doubles, and Jaquias and Gordines edged Burridge and Shane Powell, 31.5-30, in the mixed doubles.
“We went out there overconfident or we didn’t concentrate, it was something,” Burridge said. “We slid back and Hawaii won a couple heats off us that we could have won.
“I think we had won our first match (against Europe-Africa) so easily, we had a false sense of security.”
Elkerton said Australia was at a disadvantage because some of its top surfers--Tom Carroll, Barton Lynch, Damien Hardman and Rob Bain--skipped the event to prepare for the upcoming world tour.
“We don’t have our top guys here,” Elkerton said. “But I’m happy to be working with this team. If we finished second (overall), I would have no hard feelings about the team we have.”
Friendly rivals? The close competition between Australia and Hawaii has sparked some good-natured ribbing.
First, Garcia boldly predicted victory: “We’re going to beat the Australians like yesterday’s news.”
After the contest, Thomas and Elkerton had an exchange.
“We own you tomorrow,” Thomas yelled at Elkerton.
Elkerton’s response: “Not if they (judges) score the waves properly.”
Injury report: Burridge said she wasn’t sure how she injured her right knee.
“Maybe I hurt it when I carried my heavy bags off the plane,” she said. “It’s really swollen. I can’t bend it when I have pressure on it. And that’s not good for surfing.”
But Huntington Beach’s cold ocean water was good therapy for the knee, she said.
“It was like putting ice on it,” she said.
Thomas said his lower back, which he strained during a heat Thursday, was back to full strength after visiting a chiropractor later that day.
Collins competed despite a bad cold and a 101-degree temperature that has kept him in bed for the past 24 hours.
Op Notes
Competition resumes at 8 a.m. today with the United States against Brazil, followed by the finals of the Miss Op sports model contest at 11:30 a.m.
Results
Overall standings
(Teams receive two points for each heat victory. The team with the most points in each pool after two rounds and two tag-team events will advance to the finals)
Pool one--1. United States 24, 2. Brazil 14, 3. Japan 5; Pool two--1. Australia 24, 2. Hawaii 23, 3. Europe-Africa 6.
Tag-team competition
1. United States 106.5, 2. Australia 91, 3. Brazil 89.5, 4. Hawaii 84, 5. Europe-Africa 80.5, 6. Japan 73.
Hawaii 162.5, Australia 154.5
AUSTRALIA--Gary Elkerton 18.5, Richard Marsh 15, Shane Powell 19.5, Glen Winton 17, Pam Burridge 18. Elkerton-Marsh 36.5, Powell-Burridge 30.
HAWAII--Sunny Garcia 17.5, Marty Thomas 19.5, Kaipo Jaquias 21.5, Hans Hedemann 14, Rochelle Gordines 18.5. Garcia-Thomas 40, Jaquias-Gordines 31.5.