Determined Ballard Is First Among Peers

Despite a scary collision with the pier the day before, Rochelle Ballard showed absolutely no fear Friday as she came back to win the Wahine’s championship final at the G-Shock U.S. Open of Surfing.

On Thursday, Ballard slammed into the Huntington Beach Pier during her semifinal heat and was stuck there for a few minutes, before escaping with a large bump on her head and cuts and bruises on her body. Ballard was taken to a local hospital and later released.

“I just put the pier behind me,” said Ballard, who showed no visible marks from Thursday’s encounter with the pier. “Oh, I thought about my accident every time I got close to the pier, but I just wanted to get going and win this event.”

Australians Pam Burridge and Neridah Falconer finished second and third. Lisa Andersen of Ormond Beach, Fla., was fourth.

Ballard’s victory was her first in a Huntington Beach contest since she turned professional seven years ago.

“I think I would have done this well even if I didn’t hit the pier,” Ballard said. “I have been focusing more on my surfing this year. And when I went out there this morning, I felt perfectly fine.

“I couldn’t believe it.”

Ballard had another scary tangle with the pier late in Friday’s final. With just minutes left in the heat, Ballard took a wave near the pier and suddenly found herself under the structure again. And like Thursday, she again got stuck on one of the concrete pilings. However, this time Ballard was able to quickly release herself from her surfboard leash and get a helping hand from competitor Burridge.

“I felt this hand reach out and grab me and pulled me up,” said Ballard, who escaped with only a cut on her foot from a barnacle on the piling. “When I got out of the water, I tried to get a different board to get back out there. But there wasn’t enough time. But I won, so it’s OK.”

Later Friday, Ballard and the other top surfers began competition in the Kahlua women’s championship, which is a World Championship Tour event. Ballard, who lives in Kauai, Hawaii, advanced to the quarterfinal round Friday after defeating Burridge and Lynette MacKenzie, also from Australia. Andersen, the three-time defending world champion, also advanced.

The second round of the men’s main event was also contested with former world champion Tom Curren and current champion Kelly Slater both advancing.

There is a possibility that the two could meet in Sunday’s final. Curren, world champion in 1985, ’86 and 1990, has been surfing flawlessly all week and continued that trend, winning his ninth heat of the competition. He beat 1996 AirTouch Pro champion Kaipo Jaquias of Hawaii, who took second to advance.

Slater, who’s seeking an unprecedented fifth world title, advanced by finishing second in his heat. Slater, who had just arrived from West Sumatra in Indonesia, said he hadn’t been feeling good and did not eat all day.

“I wasn’t feeling that good out there,” Slater said. “But it’s nice to get out there and surf.”

Not all of the top pros were able to survive the second round. Sunny Garcia of Hawaii, Taylor Knox of Carlsbad, Rob Machado of Cardiff and former San Clemente resident Shane Beschen, who lost to Slater in the final of the U.S. Open last year, all failed to advance. Also going down was Huntington Beach’s Jeff Deffenbaugh. Deffenbaugh was knocked out by Richard Lovett and San Clemente upstart Chris Ward, who beat out Deffenbaugh with a final ride.

The other Orange County surfers who survived are Huntington Beach’s Ryan Simmons, San Clemente’s Shea Lopez and Laguna Beach’s Jeff Booth.

In longboarding, defending U.S. Open champion Joel Tudor of La Jolla easily advanced to the semifinals, as near perfect waves helped him perform his nose rides. Geoff Moysa of San Clemente also advanced.

“It was ideal out there,” Moysa said. “It was actually too out of control the last two days, but today it was perfect for longboarding.”

Along with Moysa, fellow San Clemente surfers Israel Paskowitz, Josh Baxter and Colin McPhillips advanced. Josh Mohr of Huntington Beach also advanced.

Friday’s results:

WAHINE WOMEN’S FINAL

1. Rochelle Ballard (Hawaii); 2. Pam Burridge (Australia); 3. Neridah Falconer (Australia); 4. Lisa Andersen (Florida).

MEN’S MAIN ROUND

Second round

(Top two advance)

HEAT 1--1. Beau Emerton (Australia); 2. Luke Hitchings (Australia); 3. Andy Irons (Hawaii); 4. Ross Williams (Hawaii). HEAT 2--1. Richard Lovett (Australia); 2. Chris Ward (San Clemente); 3. Jeff Deffenbaugh (Huntington Beach); 4. Eneko Acero (Spain). HEAT 3--1. Victor Ribas (Brazil); 2. Barton Lynch (Australia); 3. Jake Spooner (Australia); 4. Joao Gutemberg (Brazil). HEAT 4--1. Tom Curren (Santa Barbara); 2. Kaipo Jaquias (Hawaii); 3. Shawn Sutton (Hawaii); 4. Cory Lopez (San Clemente).

HEAT 5--1. Jeff Booth (Laguna Beach); 2. Tim Curran (Oxnard); 3. Kasey Curtis (San Juan Capistrano); 4. Ben Bourgeois (Newport Beach). HEAT 6--1. Conan Hayes (Hawaii); 2. Adam Replogle (Hawaii); 3. Russell Winter (England); 4. Keith Malloy (Ventura). HEAT 7--1. Damien Hobgood (Australia); 2. John Shimooka (Hawaii); 3. Shane Beschen (Hawaii); 4. Rob Machado (Cardiff). HEAT 8--1. Christiano Spirro (Brazil); 2. Shea Lopez (San Clemente); 3. Joca Junior (Brazil); 4. Pat O’Connell (Laguna Niguel). HEAT 9--1. Damien Hardman (Australia); 2. Renan Rocha (Brazil); 3. Todd Prestige (Australia); 4. Taylor Knox (Carlsbad). HEAT 10--1. Maicon Rosa (Brazil); 2. Vetea David (Australia); 3. Michael Lowe (Australia); 4. Jake Petterson (Australia). HEAT 11--1. Nathan Webster (Australia); 2. Marty Thomas (Long Beach); 3. Wagner Pupo (Brazil); 4. Tony Seddon (Australia). HEAT 12--1. Kalani Robb (Hawaii); 2. Guilherme Herdy (Brazil); 3. Fabio Gouvia (Brazil); 4. David Giddings (Newport Beach). HEAT 13--1. Rodrigo Dornelles (Brazil); 2. Kelly Slater (Florida); 3. Taj Burrow (Australia); 4. Simon Law (Australia). HEAT 14--1. Danny Wills (Australia); 2. Ryan Simmons (Huntington Beach); 3. Cam Anderson (Florida); 4. Chris Gallagher (Australia). HEAT 15--1. Shane Stoneman (Los Osos); 2. Michael Rommelse (Florida); 3. Sunny Garcia (Hawaii); 4. Danny Melhado (Australia). HEAT 16--1. Mark Bannister (Australia); 2. Todd Holland (Florida); 3. Armando Daltro (Brazil); 4. JoJo Olivenca (Brazil).