Tavares Coasts to a Title

Tita Tavares didn’t seem to notice the waves were no good.

The Brazilian so dominated the field in the finals at the elleven women’s U.S. Open at Huntington Beach Saturday that her worst scoring wave was better than any of her competitors’ best waves.

“I don’t feel so horrible,” runner-up Megan Abubo of Hawaii said. “Tita even caught that one at the end of the heat and it ends up being, what, a 7.50? Everyone out there was looking around saying, ‘What the heck?’ ”

Tavares ran away with the U.S. Open title, scoring 20.75 points in inconsistent conditions to outdistance Abubo, the World Championship Tour’s second-ranked surfer, by 10.20 points. Australians Kylie Webb, who was third at 9.90 points, and Prue Jefferies, who was fourth at 8.05, were also left in Tavares’ wake.

Tavares, the WCT’s fourth-ranked surfer, won the $5,000 first prize and Abubo won $2,500 for second.

“It’s hard to beat someone when they’re on fire like that,” Abubo said. “It’s disappointing when you get to the finals and you don’t get good surf. It seemed like every wave I took would close out. Timing is everything. You have to be in the right spot to catch the right waves.”

In Saturday’s 30-minute final, it appeared only Tavares was finding the right spots.

After Tavares scored a 5.25 on her opening wave, Abubo, Webb and Jefferies couldn’t muster anything better than 4.20 on any one wave in the heat.

Twelve minutes into the final, Tavares essentially started her victory lap. She sped across a rare clean face on a right, then worked several turns to help post an 8.00, the third-best scoring wave of the event.

Those two waves already gave Tavares enough for the victory, but she added the 7.50 with 30 seconds remaining for good measure.

“Everything was perfect today,” Tavares said.

Even in imperfect surf.

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In addition to the two surfing titles the Brazilians won Saturday--Paulo Moura won the junior championship--they also claimed both the men’s and women’s Manta Pro bodyboard series event titles. Brazil’s Karla Costa won the women’s title and the $1,500 first prize and Diego Cabel won the men’s title and the $3,000 first prize.

Fellow Brazilian Guilherme Tamega made a run at Cabel in the closing minutes of the final, posting a 9.50 ride during which he followed a big aerial move by weaving through the pilings of the pier. But Cabel answered with a ride of 7.50 to give him a four-wave total of 28.60 and a 2.80-point cushion.

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Laguna Beach’s Pat O’Connell advanced to today’s men’s U.S. Open quarterfinals by winning his heat in the Round of 32, but Huntington Beach’s Brad Gerlach was eliminated in the same heat. Also advancing to O’Connell’s quarterfinal heat were Australia’s Jake Paterson, Hawaii’s Kalani Robb and Brazil’s Marcelo Nunes.

In quarterfinal No. 1 today, the WCT’s top-ranked surfer, Sunny Garcia, will meet Australia’s Michael Campbell, who edged Garcia in the final of last weekend’s Bluetorch Pro. Also advancing to that quarterfinal are Australians Chris Davidson and Trent Munro.

In quarterfinal No. 3, San Clemente’s Cory Lopez will surf against Cardiff’s Rob Machado, Brazil’s Danilo Costa and Hawaii’s Frederick Patacchia. Quarterfinal No. 4 features San Juan Capistrano’s Chris Drummy, Keith and Dan Malloy of Ventura, and Bruce Irons of Hawaii.