Malia Manuel (Wailua, HI), the youngest champion ever of the US Open at 14, has claimed the Women’s Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill over fellow finalist Coco Ho from the North Shore of O'ahu (both young Hawaiians making ASP history as the youngest finalists ever at the US Open), 17, in two-to-three foot (1 metre) surf at Huntington Beach Pier this U.S. Open.
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star event saw some incredible performances today, but none as impressive as the young Hawaiians taking down some of the biggest names in professional surfing.
“I’m so stoked right now,” Manuel said. “My sponsors gave me the wildcard into this event and I was just happy to be here. To get to surf against some of my heroes and to be in the Final with my friend Coco (Ho) is just something I would have never dreamed of.”
Sticking to her game plan throughout the event, Manuel started strong in the opening moments of the Final, securing two lengthy righthanders to post solid scores while her opponent struggled to find her footing in the challenging afternoon conditions.
“There weren’t many waves out there this afternoon which was too bad,” Manuel said. “I just got lucky that a couple linked up for me and I was able get some scores under my belt.”
Manuel issued huge upsets today, defeating former ASP Women’s World Champion and 2006 U.S. Open Champion Sofia Mulanovich (Lima, PER) in her Quarterfinals heat before posting a dominating heat win over current ASP WQS ratings leader Sally Fitzgibbons (Gerroa, AUS) as well as an impressive win over Ho en route to becoming the youngest U.S. Open Winner ever.
Ho issued her share of shocking upsets as well, defeating ASP Women’s World Tour veteran Melanie Bartels (Makaha, HI) and reigning ASP Women’s World Champion and defending U.S. Open Champion Stephanie Gilmore (Tweed Heads, AUS) on her way to the final. Ho’s potential sweep of both the women’s events was stopped by Manuel’s Honda U.S. Open Final victory.
“The conditions really came down to the one who got the wave with the wall,” Ho said. “I couldn’t find my feet and I had to watch her catch a really good right. It was just cool being in the Final, because it was my goal to just make the Quarters, so I’m over the moon.”
Fitzgibbons, who has already qualified for the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour, finished in equal third-place behind Manuel, increasing her ASP WQS ratings lead over the field.
“Malia was surfing really well and got off to a great start and just kept going from there,” Fitzgibbons said. “It was hard to play catch-up with the waves that were coming through and she’s the deserving heat winner.”
The ASP WQS women’s competitors will head from Huntington to Portugal for another ASP WQS 6-Star event, the Billabong Girls Cascais Festival, which will be held in Guincho, Portugal from July 31 – August 3, 2008
In addition to the finale of the U.S. Open Women’s event, the ASP Grade-2 S3 Supergirl Pro Junior came to a close today with Honda U.S. Open Finalist Ho claiming victory over fellow finalists Nikita Robb (East London, ZAF), Sage Erickson (Ventura, CA) and Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA) with a come-from-behind victory over Robb, edging out prodigious South African by seven tenths of a point.
Erickson and Conlogue had solid showings throughout the entire event, but were unable to capitalize in the Final.
The GO211 LIVE feat. the Men’s Honda U.S. Open of Surfing pres. by O’Neill moved through the Round of 24 today, narrowing it down to the sweet 16 for tomorrow’s culmination. Today’s action saw local standout Timmy Reyes (Huntington Beach, CA) and fellow Californian Nathaniel Curran (Oxnard, CA) dominated the Round of 24, both putting in impressive performances as they moved one step closer to clinching the 2008 Honda U.S. Open title.
Reyes, current No. 14 on the ASP World Tour, finished in first over event standouts Damien Fahrenfort (Durban, ZAF), who advanced in second, and Basque native Hodei Collazo (Basque Country, ESP), by posting a solid heat total of 16.67 out of a possible 20 point score.
“I was going to miss this event because the World Tour events are so close together,” Reyes said. “It’s home and you’ve got to make time for home. Obviously it brings a little bit of stress because you want to perform well in front of your family. I’m stoked with how things went today. I was in rhythm and that’s what you have to do.”
Also other notable performances were former US Open Champion Cory Lopez making it through his heat despite breaking his board on a massive floater. "I knew right when I came down I broke my board. Luckily I had two scores that helped me scrape through that heat."
In the same heat Dane Gudauskas kept his campaign alive by winning the heat over Cory Lopez. Kauaiian surfer Roy Powers made it through his heat and will be looking forward to the quarterfinals tomorrow as a he faces Huntington Beach's Brett Simpson.
Results:
Final:
1 – Malia Manuel (HAW) 14.34
2 – Coco Ho (HAW) 7.90
Semifinals Results (1st advances)
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) 13.10 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 12.67
Heat 2: Coco Ho (HAW) 10.83 def Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 6.83
Quarterfinals (1st advances)
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) 15.83 def. Sofia Mulanovich (USA) 13.10
Heat 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 11.00 def. Samantha Cornish (AUS) 1.60
Heat 3: Coco Ho (HAW) 12.00 def. Melanie Bartels (HAW) 8.23
Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.67 def. Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 9.17
S-3 Supergirl Pro Junior Results:
Final:
1 – Coco Ho (HAW) 14.07
2 – Nikita Robb (ZAF) 14.00
3 – Sage Erickson (USA) 12.26
4 – Courtney Conlogue (USA) 9.60
