Aussies Campbell, Beachley capture titles

A pair of Australians took center stage over the weekend as Michael

Campbell won the Bluetorch pro, and Layne Beachley captured the Elleven

Pro Women’s title at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Campbell’s victory, played out before an estimated 40,000 spectators,

came against ratings leader Sunny Garcia of Hawaii. The 26-year-old from

Sydney surfed consistently throughout the 35-minute final to edge the

30-year-old Garcia, 19.60 points to 19.00.

“I went out and tried my hardest, but I made a couple of mistakes,”

Garcia said. “I felt like I was the better surfer, but I just came up

short. Mick (Campbell) went out and did what he does best.”

The win netted Campbell the top prize of $15,000.

Beachley won the Elleven Pro Women’s crown on Saturday, beating fellow

Aussie Melanie Redman in the final. Beachley dominated the heat from

start to finish and more than doubled up on Redman as she outscored her

rival, 19.60-7.90.

Beachley’s victory earned her $6,000 and helped her regain the lead in

the ASP title race.

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The Panasonic ShockWave Beach Games, headlined by the world’s largest

surfing competition, the U.S. Open of Surfing and the U.S. Open of Women,

continues with competition today at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Today’s schedule at the Pier features Men’s surfing (7 a.m.-noon,

heats 1-16 in the Round of 128)), and wakeboarding (10 a.m.-2 p.m., top

32 in Round 1). Men’s surfing continues from 12:20 p.m.-5:40 p.m. with

heats 1-16 of the Round of 96, and wakeboarding from 2 p.m.-5 p.m.,

featuring the top 16 from the Round 2.