Australian King rules waves with world title

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

All hail bodyboarding's new King.

"It was like the whole day was unbelievable," said Australia's Damian King, who won the Rockstar Games Pipeline Pro and clinched his first world championship yesterday. Bernie Baker photo

After playing king for the day, King also became king for the year. With yesterday's victory, he clinched his first world championship.

The final day of competition was held in wind-blown 4- to 8-foot waves yesterday.

"I don't care what happens after this," said King, 25. "This was an emotional year for me, and I didn't even know if I'd be here. So to win the contest and the world title ... I can't even begin to talk about how it feels."

The event was the final stop of the 2003 World Super Tour for the International Bodyboarding Association (IBA). King also won the first event of the season in Tahiti.

Yesterday capped a trying coronation process for King.

His mother, Sue King, died of cancer in March. At the time, Damian contemplated skipping the entire tour.

"I had to make a hard decision," he said. "But I thought about it and I think my mom would want me to go. This is for her, definitely."

"To win the contest and the world title ... I can't even begin to talk about how it feels," Damian King said. Bernie Baker photo

King entered the contest ranked No. 1, but by only 175 points ahead of six-time world champion Guilherme Tamega of Brazil (a contest victory is worth 2,000 points).

"If I was going to be world champion, I knew I had to beat him," King said. "I wasn't exactly confident, I just knew I had to work hard to earn it."

King and Tamega were joined in the four-man final by Spencer Skipper of Hilo and Rui Ferreira of Portugal.

King set the pace from the start. Just as the horn sounded to start the heat, he paddled into an 8-foot wave and rode through a long barreling section. Once he made it out of the barrel, he completed an aerial maneuver for bonus points.

The judges rewarded him with a score of 9.0 (out of 10) to give him a lead he would never relinquish.

"I knew it was a good wave as soon as I saw it," he said. "I wasn't really thinking, I just did it."

Less than 10 minutes later, he rode through another long barreling wave for a score of 8.0. His two-wave total of 17.0 was more than enough to clinch the final.

The only drama came midway through the heat when King and Tamega paddled for the same wave. They appeared to collide before King pulled back, allowing Tamega to take the wave.

The judges ruled that Tamega interfered with King and assessed him a one-wave penalty.

"It was my interference," Tamega acknowledged. "Unfortunately, one little mistake ruined the whole thing for me, but I'm not going to hate myself because of that. I've done a lot in my career, too."

Tamega was the two-time defending world champ. Because of the penalty, he finished in fourth place in the contest, but still maintained his No. 2 overall ranking.

Skipper placed second despite a large gash on his right elbow. After a wipeout during his quarterfinal heat, he cut his elbow on the reef. He competed in the semifinals and final with duct tape wrapping a bandage around his elbow.

"There was a little bit of pain, but I wouldn't say it made a difference," said Skipper, 27. "All things considered, I'm happy with second place."

Skipper's final two-wave score was 13.5. Ferreira was third with a score of 12.0. Tamega, counting only one wave, was fourth with 7.5.

With 15 minutes remaining in the final, King's board snapped in half after a wipeout. After swimming against the current for nearly five minutes, he was greeted on the beach by the Australian contingent informing him of Tamega's interference.

"They were telling me I won and I couldn't believe it," he said. "It was like the whole day was unbelievable."

Kaua'i's Jeff Hubbard, who was the only Hawai'i competitor with a shot at the world title, was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He finished the year ranked No. 3.

Another pro bodyboarding contest is expected to run at Pipeline either today or tomorrow.

Final results

1, Damian King (Australia), $4,000. 2, Spencer Skipper (Hawai'i), $2,000. 3, Rui Ferreira (Portugal), $1,500. 4, Guilherme Tamega (Brazil), $1,200. 5 (tie), Ryan Hardy (Australia) and Andre Botha (South Africa). 7 (tie), Alistair Taylor (South Africa) and Beau Day (Australia). 9 (tie), Mitch Rawlins (Australia), Naoshi Grady (Hawai'i), Jeff Hubbard (Hawai'i) and Kainoa McGee (Hawai'i). 13 (tie), Grahame Miller (Australia), Sean Virtue (Australia), Toby Player (Australia) and Mike Stewart (Hawai'i).

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.