Honda U.S. Open of Surfing
Presented by O'Neill

ASP 6 Star WQS Mens Event
ASP 6 Star WQS  Womens Event
Lost Pro Junior (ASP grade 2 event)
Huntington Beach, California, USA
21 - 30 July 2006

Live Webcast  |  Scores/Results/Photos/Videos etc 

US OPEN ACTION COMMENCES WITH STANDOUT UP-AND-COMERS AT LOST PRO JUNIOR

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 21 July, 2006 : - - Huntington Beach, CA - The Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill got underway this morning with both the Lost Pro Junior and the Men’s Honda U.S. Open Trials hitting the water at 8 am. 

As the seventh event on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) North American Pro Junior Series, the Lost Pro Junior saw the international field take to the challenging two-foot conditions with gusto, vying for the $10,000 prize purse as well as valuable ratings points. With only four events left in the 2006 ASP North American Pro Junior series, the Lost Pro Junior is one of the last opportunities for junior surfers to secure a spot in the ASP $60,000 World Junior Championships in Australia next January. 

Dusty Payne (Lahaina, Maui) got things rolling early, and continued his explosive form in posting the highest single wave score, an exceptional 9.83 out of a possible 10. “I just found a little doubled-up left and came into the inside and did a couple of turns,” Payne said, “It’s hard to surf out there, but you just have to adapt to the conditions and remain consistent.”  

Dion Atkinson (Seaford, South Australia) led the international charge today when he dominated his Pro Junior heat by posting a 14.37 out of a possible 20.  Atkinson surfed brilliantly in the deteriorating afternoon conditions; muscling his large frame through one backhand hack after another. 

“I was just trying to get the really sucky ones that let you do a few, quick backhand turns.  It’s a lot easier on your backhand out there I find,” Atkinson said.  “You try to get the bigger ones with a little wall and it doesn’t really matter how long they are as long as you get in two turns, you get good scores.” 

The young Australian performed double-duty today by surfing in both the Lost Pro Junior and the Honda U.S. Open Trials. “I’m hoping to make it to the main event of the six-star (the rating given to the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) Honda U.S. Open of Surfing event) and I’m just taking it as it comes with the Pro Junior,” Atkinson said. “We’ll see how it goes.”  

Chris Waring (Huntington Beach, CA) punctuated the afternoon’s action with a come-from-behind victory in the dying seconds of his Lost Pro Junior heat.  Needing a solid score with the clock dying, Waring stroked into a wedging two-footer, and proceeded to lacerate it all the way to the beach. “It was a nail-biter.” Waring said.  “I dropped in on that wave, and there was really nothing.  Then it just re-formed through the middle section.  I just got really lucky, did three little turns and then made it through the heat.” 

The local boy’s last-minute victory was received with a deafening response from the hometown crowd suggesting that Waring won’t be short of supporters as he looks to carry his momentum through the upcoming week. “It’s nice, all the boys are in town,” Waring said, “We’re having a good time, checking the chicks.  The water’s warm, the sun’s out, so it’s a good time.” 

Running just TK meters down the beach, the first 24 heats of the Honda U.S. Open Trials were also completed today. Only 48 of the 96 hopefuls hoping to earn one of eight spots in the main event remain in contention after the day’s proceedings. 

Subsequent rounds of the Lost Pro Junior and Men’s Honda U.S. Open Trials will resume south of Huntington Beach pier tomorrow morning (Saturday, July 22) at 8am. Opening heats of the O’Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding will commence at roughly 1:20pm. 

Live scores will be available on www.usopenofsurfing.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org.

Results Day One: 

Lost Pro Junior

Round One – 128 competitors left (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: 14.00 Luke Davis (USA), 8.70 Tyler Newton (USA), 7.93 Noah Erickson (USA), 5.79 TJ Mikus (USA)
Heat 2: 12.70 Eric Templeton (USA), 10.07 Dita Saraiva (ZAF), 9.43 Sean Poynter (USA), 4.36 Eli Viszolay (USA)
Heat 3: 13.66 Stephen Walsh (AUS), 12.60 Gabe Garcia (USA), 7.40 Aaron Carrera (USA), N/S Torrey Meister (HAW)
Heat 4: 12.17 Wesley Larsen (HAW), 11.60 Logan Strook (USA), 8.66 Sam Page (AUS), 5.83 Alex Ganguli (USA)
Heat 5: 12.27 Robson Santos (BRA), 9.10 Dewey Cunnison (USA), 6.77 Patrick Cahill (USA), 6.30 Gavin Gillette (HAW)
Heat 6: 15.70 Jadson Andre (BRA), 12.60 Kevin Sullivan (HAW), 9.83 Jamie Parkhurst (USA), 8.54 Matt McMullen (USA)
Heat 7: 9.50 Miguel Pupo (BRA), 7.75 Evan Thompson (USA), 7.10 Chris Eniem (HAW), 5.87 John Toro (USA)
Heat 8: 12.33 Kai Barger (HAW), 8.50 Hizunome Bettero (BRA), 5.70 Matt Pagan (USA), 5.03 Duran Barr (USA)
Heat 9: 11.16 Junior Faria (BRA), 10.90 Granger Larsen (HAW), 4.46 Mike Cao (USA), N/S Nate Zoller (USA)
Heat 10: 10.06 Scott Hammonds (USA), 7.50 Dylan Southworth (MEX), 6.27 Chris Neubauer (USA), 6.23 Jonny Thomas (USA)
Heat 11: 14.37 Dion Atkinson (AUS), 11.76 Kevin Kapsky (HAW), 7.20 Casey Lanvogt (USA), 6.97 Shane Murray (USA)
Heat 12: 13.50 Alex King (HAW), 9.26 Torrey Meister (HAW), 7.66 Colin Schildhauer (USA), 6.94 Nick Vasicek (AUS)
Heat 13: 9.20 Diego Gelai (USA), 7.97 Ian Ekberg (USA), 7.40 Sebastian Zietz (HAW), 6.23 Tom Rudd (AUS)
Heat 14: 16.16 Casey Brown (HAW), 8.93 Heath Joske (AUS), 6.46 Riley Metcalf (USA), N/S Kai Ellison (USA)
Heat 15: 10.70 Evan Geiselman (USA), 9.70 Ryan Peterson (USA), 9.33 Ricky Whitlock (USA), 7.23 David Suhadolnik (USA)
Heat 16: 9.13 Matias Mulanovich (PER), 9.00 Eddie Lester (USA), 8.80 Andre Pastori (BRA), 6.06 Killian Raust (FRA) 

Round Two – 96 competitors left (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 1: 15.33 Ben Dunn (AUS), 10.73 Luke Davis (USA), 8.93 Jason Harris (USA), 7.57 Dita Saraiva (ZAF)
Heat 2: 12.43 Tyler Newton (USA), 11.00 Chaz Chidester (HAW), 8.30 Eric Templeton (USA), 5.60 Drew Ventura (USA)
Heat 3: 13.94 TJ Barron (HAW), 12.57 Stephen Walsh (USA), 11.46 Marty Weinstein (USA), 9.86 Logan Strook (USA)
Heat 4: 11.87 Wesley Larsen (HAW), 9.83 Kellen Ellison (USA), 8.04 Heitor Pereira (BRA), 7.43 Gabe Garcia (USA)
Heat 5: 15.83 Dusty Payne (HAW), 15.83 Robson Santos (BRA), 11.70 Hideyoshi Tanaka (JPN), 9.27 Kevin Sullivan (HAW)
Heat 6: 16.50 Jadson Andre (BRA), 12.50 Julian Wilson (AUS), 5.75 Eric Rheaume (USA), 5.40 Dewey Cunnison (USA)
Heat 7: 14.27 Chris Waring (USA), 12.07 Michael Spencer (AUS), 11.10 Miguel Pupo (BRA), 10.17 Hizunome Bettero (BRA)
Heat 8: 9.10 Evan Thompson (USA), 8.43 Kai Barger (HAW), 4.80 Harry Sack (USA), N/S Nick Evanicich (USA)
 
Schedule for Saturday, July 22, 2006: 

LOCATION A – Southside of Pier
Junior Men (Round of 96 – Heats 9 – 16)                                                8:00 am to 10:40 am
Junior Men (Round of 64 - Heats 1 – 16)                                                 10:40 am to 4:00 pm 

LOCATION B – 100 meters south of Pier
Men’s Trials (Round of 64 – Heats 9 – 16)                                               8:00 am to 10:40 am
Men’s Trials (Round of 32 – Heats 1 – 8)                                                 10: 40 am to 1:20 pm
Longboard (Round of 56 – Heats 1 – 4)                                                    1:20 pm to 2:40 pm
Longboard (Round of 48 – Heats 1 – 4)                                                    2:40 pm to 4:00 pm 

The “2006 Bank of the West Beach Games featuring the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill” attracts more than 600 international competitors and features surfing, skateboarding, BMX, FMX and volleyball in world-class venues along with an interactive lifestyle festival spread over 12 acres. 

All events are open to the public, free of charge.  Surfing competition begins on Friday, July 21 and runs through Sunday, July 30.  Festival activities, BMX and skate competitions begin on Thursday, July 27 with FMX starting on Friday, July 28.

www.aspnorthamerica.org
www.usopenofsurfing.com 
www.bankofthewestbeachgames.com

Previous reports:
# 1 : Honda U.S. Open of Surfing to host acclaimed surfers
# 2 : Honda US Open of Surfing presented by O'neill begins 
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

More USA/Cen Amer. surfing news available here
Check the latest West Coast Surf Reports and Forecasts

New! Get the latest news with Surfersvillage News-Alerts

Mike Kingsbury

Dave Prodan
Dave@aspworldtour.com

WQS Contests - Surfersvillage