Top-Ranked Abubo Loses; Beachley Advances

Megan Abubo, the top-ranked women’s surfer on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Championship Tour, lost in Round 3 of the elleven Pro Friday at Huntington Beach.

Fellow Hawaiian Keala Kennelly won their heat and Australia’s Pauline Menczer, the 1993 world champion, also outscored Abubo to send her to a ninth-place finish.

Kennelly and Menczer both advanced to today’s quarterfinals, along with second-ranked Layne Beachley of Australia. If Beachley, the two-time defending world champion, finishes second or higher today, she will move past Abubo for the No. 1 spot in the rankings.

The 22-year-old Abubo needed a score of 5.71 on one of her final waves to pass Menczer. But with three minutes remaining in the heat, Abubo had a wave close out on her and conditions flattened. So did Abubo’s spirits, as she didn’t see another wave.

Abubo declined comment following the disappointing finish, but her performance this season--along with fellow Hawaiians Rochelle Ballard, ranked eighth, and seventh-ranked Kennelly--indicate Hawaii might break through soon with its first world champion since Margo Oberg in 1981.

“The Australians have dominated recently and part of that is there’s just so many of them out here,” said Kennelly, who is 21. “I know Rochelle was really stoked when Megan and I joined the tour.”

Ballard, 29, had a disappointing finish like Abubo and Andersen, who was also eliminated Friday.

Australia’s Serena Brooke and Kate Skarratt topped Ballard in their heat. An interference call against Ballard early on helped derail the Hawaiian. She missed qualifying for today’s quarterfinals by finishing only .80 points behind second-place Skarratt.

“I’m not angry,” Ballard said, “just disappointed.”

Also advancing to today’s quarterfinals were Australia’s Lynette MacKenzie, Melanie Redman and Brazil’s Tita Tavares.

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Australia’s Luke Egan, 30, apparently likes the shadows.

He’s currently the No. 2-ranked surfer in the world, behind top-ranked Sunny Garcia, 30, of Hawaii. And like Garcia, Egan competed during the reign of six-time world champion Kelly Slater.

So as Garcia posted one of Friday’s most dominant victories in the Bluetorch Pro, powerfully carving out a heat score of 20.20 points--one of only two heats in the 20s Friday--to eliminate Brazil’s Junior Joca, Egan quietly advanced to Round 4 with a victory over South Africa’s Simon Nicholson.

“This is America so it’s understandable that everyone is talking about Sunny,” Egan said. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m sure if we were in Australia, there might be a bigger push for me.”

Back home is where Egan laid the groundwork for his recent success, which included a victory at Fiji last month. Egan said his daily training sessions with defending world champion Mark Occhilupo of Australia helped him gear up.

“From the beginning of last year, Occy and I would meet at 6 a.m. every morning to surf two hours a day,” Egan said. “That training really pushed me.”

Others advancing to Round 4 included: Australia’s Beau Emerton, Nathan Webster, Michael Campbell; Brazil’s Neco Padaratz, the defending Huntington Beach champion, and Fabio Gouveia; Hawaii’s Kalani Robb and Andy Irons; Cardiff’s Rob Machado, Ventura’s Tim Curran and C.J. Hobgood of Satellite Beach, Fla.

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Pro Surfing

* What: Bluetorch Pro, $168,100 World Championship Tour professional surfing event, featuring 48 of the best male and 15 of the top female surfers in the world.

* Where: South side of Huntington Beach Pier

* When: Today and Sunday. Men’s quarterfinals, semifinals and finals (12:40 p.m.) on Sunday.

* Today’s schedule: 8 a.m.-9:40 a.m.--pro women’s quarterfinals (Heats 1-4); 9:40-1 p.m.--pro men’s Round 4 (Heats 1-8); 1-1:50--pro women’s semifinals (Heats 1-2); 1:50-2:15--Wave Action Air Show (Heat 1); 2:15-2:45--pro women’s finals; 2:45-3:10--Wave Action Air Show (Heat 2); 3:15--awards.

* Admission: Free.

* Parking: Available at city structure on corner of Main and Olive streets.

* Webcast: Live on www.bluetorch.com

* Information: (949) 215-8000