The big guns in the World Surf League are finally hitting the water at the Hawaiian Pro.
Former world champion Adriano de Souza was the first WSL championship tour surfer to make his way into the lineup as Day 2 of competition wrapped up Wednesday in the first leg of the 35th annual Vans Triple Crown.
In the last four-man heat of the day, de Souza, who won the world title in 2015, scored a 9.27 in the 3- to 5-foot surf at Alii Beach Park en route to a third-round victory. He’ll surf in the fourth round (the round of 32) when competition resumes. Griffin Colapinto, who placed second in the heat to de Souza, is the only other surfer so far to advance to the fourth round.
“Before the heat I was kind of nervous because I think this (would be) my third or fourth year in a row I cannot make it through Round 3,” de Souza said. “Every year I put (out) everything I can, but usually sometimes by one mistake or by one point I don’t make the heat. To see so many athletes here that are fighting to be on the world tour this year, I’m stoked to make this heat and keep fighting to be at least in the top five of this event.”
The Hawaiian Pro is a WSL qualifying series tour event. All year, surfers not on the championship tour jockey for position to qualify for the CT, which is the sport’s major league. For next year, the top 10 in the QS will move up to join the top 22 in the CT. Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau is on the bubble, with rankings of 27th in the CT and ninth in the QS.
Lau, who won the HIC Pro — a qualifying series event — on Nov. 2, will be in the water for the continuation of the Hawaiian Pro’s third round when competition resumes. The next call for a possible green light is this morning at 7:30. The contest window ends Nov. 24.
In one of the more dramatic second-round heats Wednesday, brothers Patrick and Tanner Gudauskas of La Jolla, Calif., found themselves against each other along with Brazil’s Thiago Camarao and Hawaii’s Cody Young. Patrick Gudauskas turned in the second-highest ride of the day, an 8.87, with a bunch of critical vertical turns on his backhand. Camarao also made it into the third round, but Tanner Gudauskas was eliminated.
“It’s been a cool year and I’ve been working hard and I feel really good,” said Patrick Gudauskas, who is trying to move up from his spot at No. 16 on the qualifying series. “I’ve been working on a lot of different things to kind of have that really level head in a lot of heats and be consistent. That’s kind of been my jam all year. It’s great to be in striking range.”
Defending world champion John John Florence of Haleiwa will surf in round three, along with fellow Hawaii surfers Lau, Keanu Asing, Kiron Jabour, Dusty Payne, Benji Brand, Joshua Moniz and Sebastian Zietz.
After the Hawaiian Pro, the QS will finish up with the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown — the Vans World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25 to Dec. 6) at Sunset Beach — before the CT wraps up with the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Billabong Pipe Masters (Dec. 8 to 20) at Ehukai Beach.
A world champion (the four remaining contenders are No. 1 Florence, No. 2 Gabriel Medina of Brazil, No. 3 Jordy Smith of South Africa, and No. 4 Julian Wilson of Australia) as well as a Triple Crown champion (the best surfer in the three contests combined) will be determined at the finale.
