Open makes waves

Mike Sciacca

The Bank of the West Beach Games featuring the Honda U.S. Open of

Surfing presented by O’Neill came to an end Sunday in Huntington

Beach.

It proved to be a great weekend for Julia Christian and Andy Irons

in the U.S. Open of Surfing competition.

Christian, of Carlsbad, won her first six-star World Qualifying

Series event, the $30,000 U.S. Open of Surfing.

Christian, 23, defeated Rebecca Woods of Australia in a final that

featured a first: Woods did not score a point in the 30-minute heat

-- the first time in U.S. Open of Surfing history that a finalist had

failed to catch one wave.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” said Christian, who won

only her second professional tournament.

The waves weren’t much better on Sunday, yet Andy Irons of Hawaii

managed to ride to his second U.S. Open of Surfing Men’s title by

holding off a late charge by Rob Machado of Cardiff.

Irons first won the crown in 1998.

It was a fitting end to the $185,000 Honda U.S. Open of Surfing

presented by O’Neill men’s competition, too: two former Honda U.S.

Open of Surfing champions, one a three-time reigning world champion,

the other, a crowd favorite who has enjoyed an amazing career,

battled in a 30-minute, man-on-man final.

The two share more than 40 World Championship Tour and World

Qualifying Series titles between them.

It was Irons, the reigning world champion from Hawaii, who had to

watch as Machado nearly pulled off an impossible and near-miraculous

finish, who came out on top of a finals heat that was decided after

the final horn.

Machado won the U.S. Open in 1995 and 2001. He nearly won his

third event title -- which would have been a first for the men in the

history of the U.S. Open of Surfing.

The loss in the final heat was his first heat defeat following six

straight wins.

He had only lost his first heat, which came in the round of 96.

Mike Todd of Laguna Beach was eliminated from the Men’s title

chase on July 25.

Irons received a check for $15,000 while Machado earned $7,500.

“Winning in Huntington Beach is a great feeling,” said Irons, who

returned to Kauai Monday. “It’s the biggest contest there is.

“It feels just as good winning this today as it did the first time

around. The crowd going nuts here is just awesome to see.”

Hank Gaskell of Hawaii won the $10,000 Lost Pro Junior Men’s

competition, and Nikita Robb of South Africa won the $10,000 Target

Women’s Junior Pro event.

Joel Tudor of San Diego won his eighth title in the $10,000

O’Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding.

Also on Sunday, the finals of the Karch Kiraly Invitational

volleyball tournament brought out the legends of the game as well as

today’s top pros, including Adam “AJ” Johnson of Laguna Beach.

A unique tournament format featured six, four-player teams,

composed of three men and a woman representing beach cities along the

Southern California coast, competing in the two-day event.

Team Hermosa, made up of Adam Jewell, Canyon Ceman, Brent Frohoss

and LeAnne McSorley, defeated Team Manhattan, 15-11, in Sunday’s

final.

Team Manhattan was composed of Mike Dodd, Mike Lambert, Tim

Hovland and Carrie Busch.

“It’s been a lot of fun to watch,” Kiraly said. “It’s great to see

the men and women work together. There have been some awesome

rallies. Mixing up the legends of the game with some of the top

players today, and mixing the sexes, has been a neat combo. We hope

to be back with the games next year.”