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Honda U.S. Open of Surfing kicks off today
by George Mojo
21/07/2006:// The Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill kicks off today. The Lost Pro Junior and Open Men's Trials will be the first two items featured on the action-packed agenda.
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) will sanction five separate events over the 10-day competition window running from July 21-30.
Collectively, the men’s and women’s divisions of the six-star Honda U.S. Open of Surfing, the Grade 2 Lost Pro Junior and Target Women’s Junior Pro and the O’Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding will harbor more than 500 hopefuls vying for their respective titles.
The Men’s Trials will be a hotly contested field of 96 competitors all looking for a start in the main event. The Trials will run from Friday through Sunday with the top eight surfers earning spots into the Honda Men’s U.S. Open.
American Damien Hobgood is the top seed going into the event although in-form Australian's Phillip MacDonald and Trent Munro will have an eye on the top honours.
The Lost Pro Junior will see the region’s top junior competitors performing in front of their largest audience this season. The U.S. Open attracts hundreds of thousands of beachgoers each year.
Eric Geiselman current point leader on the ASP North America Pro Junior series, has been terrorizing competitors this season earning three Pro Junior victories in five attempts.
Although Geiselman, 18, has been a competitor on the ASP Pro Junior Series for a number of years, this will be his first time competing in front of the thousands of people in attendance at US Open Lost Pro Junior
“I’m not really thinking about it too much,” Geiselman said, “I’m excited to surf in front of the crowd, but I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I’m just going out there to have fun.”
The Lost Pro Junior will run from Friday through Sunday, and will narrow the 128 competitors down to the final four, who will then compete in front of a capacity crowd the following Sunday, July 30th.
Also hitting the water on Sunday, July 23rd, is the $10,000 Target Pro Junior featuring the region’s best up-and-coming junior girls.
For the North American girls, the Target Pro Junior represents the last event in this season’s schedule and will decide who goes and who stays.
For the boys, the Lost Pro Junior is the seventh event in the 10-event 2006 season, and will be one of the last chances for surfers looking to dethrone the top seeds.
All junior competitors will be looking to strengthen their chances for the highly-coveted slots into the ASP $60,000 World Junior Championships in Australia next January.
Running on Saturday and Sunday will be the first six rounds of the ASP-sanctioned Longboard event. Fifty-six of the region’s top longboarders will battle their contemporaries hoping to be one of the final four, who will surf the in the even final to be held on Sunday, July 31st, 2006.
The 2008 Beachley Classic got underway this morning, completing Rounds 1 and 2 as well as the opening two heats of Round 3 at nearby Freshwater Beach in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year
Former Exeter University student Josh Lewin first heat at the Ocean and Earth Pro in the Canary Islands has been delayed because the 2ft surf was deemed uncontestable
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