Andy Irons Stays on Top In World Rank

By SCOTT A. HARTVIGSEN
Oahu Island News

Hawaii’s hottest surf star, Andy Irons, placed second in the Quiksilver Pro at Hossegor, France and won the Billabong Pro at Mundacca, Spain to maintain the No.1 ranking on the surfing World Championship Tour (WCT).

In France, Irons beat Hawaii’s Kalani Robb in the quarterfinals and then beat Kelly Slater in the semi-finals. He went on to beat Brazil’s Neco Padaratz in the final that featured four-foot surf. Irons started the final with a 9 out of 10 points ride, but Padartz wanted victory and managed a 9.5 ride to seal the win and earn $30,000. Irons took home $16,000 and enough points to keep him on top of the world.

Irons currently has 5,852 points, while second ranked Australian Luke Egan has 5,334 and Robb is ranked No. 9. Ex-world champ Sunny Garcia missed the event with an injury and is now No. 16 in the world.

More information about the competition in Spain and current world standings will be available in November’s issue. 

Kauai Women Third In Roxy Pro
Hawaii’s Rochelle Ballard and Keala Kennelly tied for third place in the Roxy Pro France. Ballard posted a near perfect 9.75 in her quarterfinal win over Lynette Mackenzie. World Champ Layne Beachley squeaked by Ballard in the semi-finals and went on to defeat Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich in the final for the $10,000 purse, and therefore took over the No.1 ranking on the women’s WCT. Kennelly is now ranked No. 4, while Ballard is No.9 and Waialua’s Megan Abubo is No. 11.

Triple Crown Of Surfing (Women)
The women’s events start with the Roxy Pro at Haleiwa, November 12 – 23, then up the coast to the Turtle Bay Resort Pro, November 24 – December 7. The final event for the women on the WCT is the Billabong Pro on Maui at Honolua Bay, December 8 – December 20.

In other news…
The debate about scheduling surf contests seems to be resolved – the
City & County of Honolulu claim they will adhere to all rules regarding surf contests, although the complete schedule was not available at press time. Contact Wilford Ho at 233-7300 for more details.

For local surf conditions call 596-SURF and for contest surfing information log on to www.aspworldtour.com.

Scott A. Hartvigsen resides on the North Shore of Oahu. A former photojournalist for the Coast Guard he is a watersports enthusiast, writer and photographer. Contact him at nshorehart@cs.com.