|
Familiar Faces Light Up at Hurley Pro Sunset Beach Presented by SHISEIDO
In the day’s opening heat, Jordy Smith (ZAF) matched the ocean’s power with his own, pushing the limits on a massive layback snap and a big re-entry to post the day and the event’s first excellent score of 8.00 points (out of a possible 10). Smith, who won a Qualifying Series event at Sunset before, faced compatriot Matthew McGillivray and Ryan Callinan (AUS) and advanced straight into the Round of 32.
“It’s definitely reassuring that my surfing suits this wave,” said Smith. “I’ve had some great success out here right from the very first time I surfed in that event. But this is a whole separate deal, coming up against the best surfers in the world you just got to lay it all on the line.”
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) put together a solid performance in the following matchup. Igarashi seemed in total control of the rogue sets at Sunset to post his own 8 point ride, backed up by a 7.33. The Japanese surfer’s wave selection was perfect as he made it look very easy to navigate the big-water lineup at Sunset.
“It’s just classic Sunset out there,” Igarashi said. “It’s a hard wave to surf physically and mentally. You get given a lot of options and you kind of have to pick the eyes out of them and find the ones that you want. I knew what I wanted out there and luckily two came, that’s all I needed.”
Upsets continued later in the day with current World No. 2 Seth Moniz (HAW) bested by CT veterans Kolohe Andino (USA) and Nat Young (USA). Andino took control of the affair with powerful flow through two major maneuvers to earn a 7.17 as Young’s backhand garnered a 6.00 to put Moniz in the treacherous third-place position from which he couldn’t recover. This marked Andino’s first heat win of the year as the former World Title threat looked to rebound after an early exit at Pipeline.
“It’s the world’s best so it’s always going to be super hard,” said Andino. “You’re also dealing with maxed out Sunset and if the contest wasn’t on there wouldn’t be too many free surfers out there – it’s a washing machine. It’s man vs. ocean vs. competitor. I was excited for it to be big so there wouldn’t be that many tactics involved and it was cool to have a heat with Nat.
Moniz recovered from his first heat and found himself locked into another battle with Brazilian duo Caio Ibelli and Miguel Pupo during his Elimination Round. The ocean became unruly as sets grew even bigger heading into the final minutes of the heat in which Ibelli had control over with Moniz securing his place over Pupo and salvaging himself from early elimination.
The Big Wave Champion Kemper felt right at home as he battled Australians Wright and Morgan Cibilic in Heat 2 of the Elimination Round. Maui, Hawaii’s own unleashed his detrimental forehand to claim a 7.93 over the CT veteran Wright and newcomer, 2021 World No. 5, Cibilic. In a low-scoring affair, Wright’s interference on Kemper proved to be too much to overcome as time expired.
“These are the nitty-gritty days at Sunset Beach,” said Kemper. “It’s crazy. Fifteen minutes feels like so long in a heat, you feel like you’ve wasted the heat. But, I felt calm. I’ve been working a lot. I have my son here, my wife’s over at Pupukea watching with my other boys and just feel really comfortable at home. I’m not out here trying to qualify or win a World Title, I’m just trying to win in my own backyard and really enjoy every minute of it, and being able to compete with the world’s best. Owen, Morgan, I look up to these guys. As much as I’m a surfer, I’m also a surf fan and I love what they do on Tour and it’s an honor to share the ocean with them.”
|
