Two-time defending champion Kanoa Igarashi eliminated at U.S. Open of Surfing

This time, the wave didn’t come.

Huntington Beach‘s Kanoa Igarashi has made no secret about his connection with the wave on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, and how so often, when he needed that one wave to push him to the top, it would be there for him.

But on Friday morning, in Round 4 of the U.S. Open of Surfing, it wasn’t, and Igarashi’s quest for an unprecedented third consecutive crown came to an abrupt end.

Surfing in a three-man heat, Igarashi needed to finish inthe top two to advance to Round 5. He was up against Barron Mamiya of Hawaii and Liam O’Brien of Australia, neither of whom is on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour. Mamiya, however, won the U.S. Open Junior Men’s contest last year.

When the 30-minute heat was over, Igarashi’s 11.77 two-wave total fell short of Mamiya’s 12.97 and O’Brien’s 12.26. After the heat, Igarashi tried looking at the bright side.

“It’s one of those things where in a way it feels nice to be able to forget about this and have an extra few days at home,” he said. “I’m just going to enjoy it. I’m normally competing until the last day, so it’ll be nice and different to not be in that contest zone while I’m at home. Just recharge some batteries and get ready for the back end of the (CT) year.”

Igarashi’s equal-17th-place finish earned him a payout of $2,500.

The heat started slowly for Igarashi as both Mamiya and O’Brien got some early waves, Mamiya scoring a 6.67 on one to take control early. Igarashi finally got on the board about seven minutes in with a 5.07, and added a 5.87.

But O’Brien then found the wave of the heat, separating himself from the other two sitting next to the pier, and turned it into a 7.93. Igarashi answered with a 5.90, but that still left him short of second place and also meant he lost priority.

Without priority, Igarashi had to give way to both Mamiya and O’Brien if a wave came, and both of the other surfers were sure to shadow Igarashi and therefore deny him an opportunity.

As the clock ticked below the 5-minute mark, both Mamiya and then O’Brien took off on waves, if only to prevent Igarashi from going. But that gave Igarshi priority with 3:30 remaining.

Igarashi not only needed a wave, he needed a good one so that he could score a 6.37 or better in order to move into second place. Igarashi straddled his board and waited, but it never came.

“It’s the ocean,” Igarashi said. “We’re playing with numbers and we’re playing with odds and percentages and it’s never 100%. Most of the times it comes, but there are times when it doesn’t, and there’s been times when I needed it more. It sucks but I’m going to move on. I’ll be fine.”

O’Brien shadowed Igarashi at the outset of the heat, but he said it wasn’t part of any strategy to rattle the defending champ.

“Not really,” O’Brien said. “I just wanted to be inside to start and he was kind of battling me for the inside and my plan that I made, I was pretty certain that I wanted to start on the inside so I stuck to that. He kind of tried to battle for it but I stuck to my guns and it worked.”

Igarashi appeared a little frustrated by O’Brien’s actions in the water, but afterward he said he had no problem with it.

“It’s competition,” he said. “It was sick, I was stoked he did that. It’s fiery out there, there’s not many waves so every wave is super important. He was following me around and I’d probably do the same thing if I was at his home break.

“It’s one of those things when you’re in the moment and fired up and trying to find any sort of way to get in their head, or get your own wave or get your space. It was good, it got me excited, it was a fun heat.”

San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto, who lost to Igarashi in last year’s epic final, won his Round 4 heat with big scores, including an 8.93, putting him into Round 5 against Brazil’s Luel Felipe Friday afternoon. Against Felipe, Colapinto had a slow start but rallied late to win and advance to Sunday’s quarterfinals.

He’ll surf against Brazil’s Adriano de Souza, a former world champion, in the quarterfinals, and also knows he won’t get that rematch with Igarashi in the semis or final.

“He’s definitely the guy to beat out here and now that he’s out of the event it’s like an open window,” Colapinto said. “If I can just put on the same performance I did last year I think I’ll be good.”

The remaining final eight surfers in the men’s division will surf the quarterfinal heats Sunday beginning at 9:30 a.m. Those matchups include: Alex Ribeiro (Brazil) vs. Connor O’Leary (Australia); Yago Dora (Brazil) vs. Jorgann Couzinet (France); O’Brien vs. Mamiya; and Colapinto vs. de Souza.

The semifinals will go off starting at 12:30 p.m. with the finals starting at 2:05 p.m.

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