Patience Pays Off for Beschen

Surfing’s top men took their turn in the first round of the main event of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, and for those willing to play the waiting game, the payoff came in the form of decent waves and high scores.

Shane Beschen of San Clemente won his heat and advanced to the third round.

“The tide dropped a little when I was out there, but I stayed patient and waited for the right wave to come along,” said Beschen, who had one of the highest wave scores of the day, an 8.7.

Beschen, ranked second in the world, won the U.S. Open title in 1994.

“This is a prestigious contest to win,” he said, “and it’s also the start of the second half of the season so it would be nice to win the [U.S. Open] title again.”

Of the top 48 surfers competing, Beschen joined 15 others who advanced to the third round on Friday. Those who failed to win their heats Wednesday will surf today in single elimination, man-on-man heats.

Also advancing was world champion Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla. Slater had no trouble winning his heat, which included upstart Chris Ward of San Clemente. He was second at the AirTouch Pro last week.

Slater demonstrated why he is No. 1. Slater scored 7.0, 7.50 and 6.68 on three waves to win the heat.

Other top surfers to advance included defending champion Rob Machado of Cardiff, AirTouch Pro champion Kaipo Jaquias of Hawaii, Conan Hayes of Hawaii, Jeff Booth of Laguna Beach and Sunny Garcia of Hawaii. Garcia and Booth scored the best waves of the day (9.0).

The top women also started competition Wednesday with 13-year-old Sophia Mulanovich of Peru drawing attention. Mulanovich, here with her mother, won two heats and took second in the third round of trials to advance to the first round of the main event.

Also doing well was Tahiti’s Patricia Rossi, who won her heats to advance.

In bodyboarding, Brian Wise and Jay Reale of San Clemente were first and second in their third-round heat of the men’s main event. World champion Mike Stewart of Hawaii and Guilherme Tamega of Brazil also advanced.

Three Brazilians won their heats in women’s bodyboarding to reach the semifinals. Daniela Freitas, Stephanie Pettersen and Neymara Carvalho, along with Aoi Koike of Japan, advanced.

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Results

U.S. Open

at Huntington Beach

Men’s

First round (winner advances to third round, losers to second round)

HEAT 1--1. John Shimooka (Hawaii); 2. Victor Ribas (Brazil); 3. Jeff Deffenbaugh (Huntington Beach). HEAT 2--1. Nathan Webster (Australia); 2. Matt Hoy (Australia); 3. Shea Lopez (Florida). HEAT 3--1. Rob Machado (Cardiff); 2. Chris Gallagher (Santa Cruz); 3. Simon Law (Australia). HEAT 4--1. Kaipo Jaquias (Hawaii); 2. Flavio Padaratz (Brazil); 3. Dean Randazzo (San Diego). HEAT 5--1. Conan Hayes (Hawaii); 2. Kalani Robb (Hawaii); 3. Paul Canning (South Africa). HEAT 6--1. Renato Wanderley (Brazil); 2. Taylor Knox (Carlsbad); 3. Stuart Bedford-Brown (Australia). HEAT 7--1. Luke Egan (Australia); 2. Guilherme Herdy (Brazil); 3. Ryan Simmons (Seal Beach). HEAT 8--1. Kelly Slater (Florida); 2. Peterson Rosa (Brazil); 3. Chris Ward (San Clemente). HEAT 9--1. Sunny Garcia (Hawaii); 2. Tim Curran (Oxnard); 3. Jake Peterson (Australia). HEAT 10--1. Shane Beschen (San Clemente); 2. Todd Prestage (Australia); 3. Shawn Sutton (Hawaii). HEAT 11--1. Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach); 2. Jake Spooner (Australia); 3. Shane Dorian (Hawaii). HEAT 12--1. Pat O’Connell (Laguna Niguel); 2. Ross Williams (Hawaii); 3. Michael Rommelse (Australia). HEAT 13--1. Gary Elkerton (France); 2. Shane Powell (Australia); 3. Richard Lovett (Australia). HEAT 14--1. Derek Ho (Hawaii); 2. Vetea David (Tahiti); 3. Todd Holland (Florida). HEAT 15--1. JoJo Olivenca (Brazil); 2. Damien Hardman (Australia); 3. Michael Barry (Australia). HEAT 16--1. Fabio Gouveia (Australia); 2. Renan Rocha (Brazil); 3. Barton Lynch (Australia).

Women’s trials

Third round

HEAT 1--1. Kylie Mercer (Australia); 2. Melissa Proud; 3. Megan Abubo (Hawaii); 4. Satomi Tagaig (Japan). HEAT 2--1. Patricia Rossi (Tahiti); 2. Narumi Kitagawa (Japan); 3. Tara Larkins; 4. Cori Schumacher. HEAT 3--1. Patricia Lopes; 2. Sophia Mulanovich (Peru); 3. Falina Spires; 4. Kim Hall. HEAT 4--1. Pru Jeffries; 2. Tita Tavares (Brazil); 3. Jodie Nelson; 4. Santomi Tagai (Japan).

Second round (top two advance)

HEAT 1--1. Webb; 2. Abubo; 3. Jayme Lee (San Clemente); 4. Liz Motshagen. HEAT 2--1. Proud; 2. Satomi; 3. Saori Zurita (Japan); 4. Nea Post (Huntington Beach). HEAT 3--1. Tavares; 2. Rossi; 3. Alisa Schwarzstein (Laguna Beach); 4. Lisa Carulli. HEAT 4--1. Larkins; 2. Schumacher; 3. Tricia Gill; 4. Kim Hamrock. HEAT 5--1. Mulanovich; 2. Lopes; 3. Kazuyo Hanazawa (Japan); 4. Tomomi Fukuya (Japan). HEAT 6--1. Spires; 2. Whitegon; 3. Kim Hall; 4. Linda Lascio. HEAT 7--1. Tsukurimichi (Japan); 2. Nelson; 3. Michelle McManus (Australia); 4. Lange Pogue. HEAT 8--1. Larkins; 2. Kitagawa; 3. Naomi Kaneko (Japan); 4. Debbie Scarano.

First round (top two advance)

HEAT 1--1. Mercer; 2. Proud; 3. Hiromi Hasegawa (Hawaii). HEAT 2--1. Rossi; 2. Larkins; 3. Brenda Fried; 4. Colleen Hanley. HEAT 3--1. Mulanovich; 2. Spires; 3. Sin Cota; 4. Sunshine Makarow. HEAT 4--1. McManus; 2. Jeffries; 3. Betty Depolito.

Men’s bodyboarding

Main event

Third round (top two advance)

HEAT 1--1. Guilherme Tamega (Brazil); 2. Marcello Pedro (Brazil); 3. Joey Vieira (Hawaii); 4. Adam Smith (Hawaii). HEAT 2--1. Brian Press; 2. Mark Dale (Hawaii); 3. Billy Cummings; 4. Ben Severson (Hawaii). HEAT 3--1. Mike Stewart (Hawaii); 2. Kyle Maligro (Hawaii); 3. Daniel Rocha (Brazil); 4. Alexis Dias. HEAT 4--1. Mike Eppelstun (Australia); 2. Douglas Lindsey (South Africa); 3. Nelz Vellocido (Hawaii); 4. Joseph Grodzen. HEAT 5--1. Ben Holland (Australia); 2. Jordan Hetrick; 3. Keith Sarsaki (Hawaii); 4. Tim Ross. HEAT 6--1. Dean Seppings (South Africa); 2. Jay Reale (San Clemente); 3. Brian Wise (San Clemente); 4. Kainoa McGee (Hawaii). HEAT 7--1. Fabio Aquino (Brazil); 2. Paulo Costa (Brazil); 3. Jacky Buder (Hawaii); 4. Chris Taloa (Hawaii). HEAT 8--1. Jefferson Anute (Brazil); 2. Chris Burkhart (Hawaii); 3. Chris Fessenden; 4. Paulo Barcellos (Brazil).

Second round

HEAT 1--1. Marcello; 2. Vieira; 3. Phillip Rodrigues (South Africa); 4. Skipper Spencer (Hawaii). HEAT 2--1. Dale; 2. Cummings; 3. Matt Walbrou (Tahiti); 4. Jeff Hubbard. HEAT 3--1. Maligro; 2. Dias; 3. Alistar Taylor (South Africa); 4. J.J. Ayala. HEAT 4--1. Grodzen; 2. Lindsey; 3. Thomas Richard; 4. Toru Arai (Japan). HEAT 5--1. Hetrick; 2. Ross; 3. Eli Tangonan (Hawaii); 4. Antonio Araya (Spain). HEAT 6--1. Seppings; 2. McGee; 3. Paulo Esteves (Brazil); 4. Stephen McKenzie (Australia). HEAT 7--1. Costa; 2. Taloa; 3. Ross McBride; 4. Eric Thomas. HEAT 8--1. Barcellos; 2. Fessenden; 3. Nicholas Capdevielle (France); 4. Dave Ballard (Australia).

Women’s quarterfinals

(top two advance)

HEAT 1--1. Claudia Dos Santos (Brazil); 2. Leila Alli (Brazil); 3. Aoi Koike (Japan); 4. Jennifer Miskov. HEAT 2--1. Daniela Freitas (Brazil); 2. Claudia Ferrari (Brazil); 3. Vicki Gleeson (Australia); 4. Narumi Fukuhara (Japan). HEAT 3--1. Stephanie Pettersen (Brazil); 2. Mady Slater; 3. Soraia Rocha (Brazil); 4. Kozue Tanaka (Japan). HEAT 4--1. Neymara Carvalho (Brazil); 2. Mariana Nogueira (Brazil); 3. Carol Phillips (Hawaii); 4. Kazumi Uzawa (Japan).