ISLE FILE
Patacchia takes third at Brazil surfing meet
Advertiser Staff
Fred Patacchia Jr. of O'ahu's North Shore finished in third place in the Nova Schin Festival men's surfing contest yesterday in 4- to 6-foot waves at Imbituba, Brazil.
By finishing third, Patacchia is assured of requalifying for the elite World Championship Tour in 2007.
"I came here with a goal, and that goal was to be in requalification mode going into Hawai'i," he said. "I came here and accomplished that."
Patacchia is now ranked No. 14 on the 2006 WCT. The top 27 ranked surfers at the end of 2006 requalify for the 2007 tour. Patacchia entered the Brazil contest ranked No. 24.
Patacchia lost in yesterday's semifinals to Florida's Damien Hobgood, 16.0-13.67.
Australia's Mick Fanning defeated Hobgood to win the contest. Fanning also moved up to No. 2 in the 2006 rankings.
Kaua'i's Andy Irons, who was eliminated in the third round, dropped to No. 5.
No. 1-ranked Kelly Slater of Florida has already clinched the 2006 world championship.
The final event of the tour is the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters at the Banzai Pipeline, Dec. 8 to 20.
GOLF
WARRIORS FINISH 10TH IN OWN TOURNAMENT
The University of Hawai'i men's team finished 10th yesterday at the 16-team UH Fall Intercollegiate tournament at the Kane'ohe Klipper Golf Course.
The Warriors shot 14-over par 302 for a three-round total of 29-over-par 893. Loyola Marymount won the tournament, shooting even-par 864.
UH's Pierre-Henri Soero (74) finished in a tie for 15th place at 4-over 220.
Teammates Ryan Perez (74) tied for 19th at 221, Travis Toyama (76) shared 30th at 223, Cody Pewarchuk (78) tied at 56th at 229 and Cody Wolfenbarger (82) shared 75th at 234.
Loyola Marymount's Brian Locke won the individual title on the first hole of the playoff. Locke and San Diego's Darrin Hall finished 54-holes tied for first at 10-under 278.
TENNIS
JOBE FACES NO. 3 SEED AT WAIKOLOA; LAM OUSTED
Honolulu's Ikaika Jobe is the last Hawai'i player remaining at the Hilton Waikoloa Village Futures event.
Honolulu's Chris Lam, and partner Rodrigo Grilli, fell in the second round of doubles yesterday, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, to the third-seeded team of Jonathan Chu and Alberto Francis.
Grilli, from Brazil, and Lam played together on UCLA 2005 NCAA Championship team.
Jobe won his first-round match Tuesday and plays third-seeded Aleksandar Vlaski in the second round today at 10 a.m. at Waikoloa's Kohala Tennis Garden. Jobe is a two-time state high school champion out of Punahou.
This is the 28th stop on the USTA Pro Circuit Futures Tour. The final event is the Honolulu Futures, which starts with qualifying this weekend at the University of Hawai'i Tennis Complex.
