World championship chase is down to two
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Andy Irons firmed up his hold on the top ranking by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Rip Curl Cup.
Carol Cunningham • Special to The Advertiser |
After the second and third rounds of the Rip Curl Cup were completed yesterday at Sunset Beach, only two surfers remained in contention for the world title: Andy Irons and Luke Egan.
Kaua'i's Irons solidified his No. 1 ranking by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Rip Curl Cup. Egan also made it to the quarterfinals, and is now the only surfer who can catch Irons.
"I wasn't really thinking about Luke," Irons said. "I was thinking about myself out there. It's big waves and I wanted to play my own game."
Wave faces ranged from 10 to 20 feet, and several notable surfers were wiped out from the contest yesterday, including Sunny Garcia, Myles Padaca and Kelly Slater.
Irons almost made the list of upsets, but he managed to find a barreling wave late in his heat for a 9.1 score (out of 10).
"I was really frustrated," he said. "There's some big waves and I wasn't getting the right ones. That one wave just came together at the right time. I pretty much lucked out."
Irons surfed in the same third round heat with fellow Hawai'i surfers Garcia and Padaca, and Australia's Shane Powell. Garcia won the Vans Hawaiian Pro at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach two weeks ago; Padaca won the Rip Curl Cup last year.
Irons said the trio of Hawai'i standouts never discussed a strategy before the heat, and it showed when Powell emerged with the highest scores (the top two surfers in each heat advance, and Irons placed second to Powell).
"I wish we would have," Irons said. "I thought those guys were going to take it easy (but) they were going all out. It was fully every man for himself."
Earlier in the day, several other contending Australians were eliminated, clearing the path for Irons. Most significant, No. 3 Taj Burrow and No. 4 Michael Lowe were ousted in the second round.
Egan refused to give in, even though the odds remain in Irons' favor.
"It makes it more exciting, I reckon. Don't you?" Egan said to the media after winning his third round heat.
The Rip Curl Cup is the 11th of 12 contests on the 2002 World Championship Tour.
Egan needs to finish at least third in this contest to still have a shot at catching Irons. And even if he wins the Rip Curl Cup, he would still have to make the final of the season finale — next week's Xbox Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters — to earn the world title for himself.
Irons needs to place third in the Rip Curl Cup to clinch his first world title, but a slip-up by Egan could also do it.
The world championship is not the only thing at stake.
Several surfers need strong results this week to requalify for the 2003 World Championship Tour (only the top 27 at the end of the year requalify).
Shane Dorian of the Big Island is ranked No. 36, but he won his third-round heat yesterday to remain in the running for the Rip Curl Cup as well as requalification for 2003.
"Everyone's got a lot on the line," he said. "It makes for exciting surfing."
The Rip Curl Cup is also the second contest in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Garcia won the first event, so his elimination yesterday also puts the Triple Crown title up for grabs.
The final day of the contest could run today. For status, call 596-7873 or visit triplecrownofsurfing.com.
Quarterfinal match-ups
- Heat 1: Mick Fanning (Australia), Neco Padaratz (Brazil), Joel Parkinson (Australia), Richard Lovett (Australia)
- Heat 2: Lee Winkler (Australia), Peterson Rosa (Brazil), Shane Powell (Australia), Andy Irons (Hawai'i)
- Heat 3: Luke Egan (Australia), Taylor Knox (California), Shane Dorian (Hawai'i), Luke Hitchings (Australia)
- Heat 4: Michael Campbell (Australia), Mark Occhilupo (Australia), Jake Paterson (Australia), Nathan Webster (Australia)
