Shane Dorian set the pace yesterday on the opening day of the Boost Mobile Pro in San Clemente, Calif. Dorian holds off Burrow
Star-Bulletin staff
The WCT event has a purse of $286,275 -- making it the richest U.S. surfing tournament ever.
Dorian, ranked 25th in the world, barely held off Australian Taj Burrow and Brazilian Paulo Moura in the day's most dramatic heat. Dorian advanced with scores of 9.0 and 8.6, edging Burrow 17.65-16.7.
"I knew it was going to be difficult as Taj is actually my favorite surfer," Dorian said. "I was just looking forward to having a really good heat and putting up some big scores to make it difficult for him to beat me."
Ratings leader Andy Irons convincingly beat younger brother Bruce and Australian Trent Munro.
Hawaii's Kalani Robb and Sunny Garcia were eliminated.
Bragado and Wood close to advancing
Honolulu's Danalee Bragado and partner Ali Wood must win a final match in pool play this morning to advance to the single-elimination round of the Playa de Palma FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in Spain.Bragado-Wood upset Americans Carrie Busch and Leanne Schuster early yesterday 21-14, 21-14, before losing to Andrea Ahmann and Jana Vollmer of Germany, 22-24, 21-18, 20-18.
Punahou pair advance: At Las Vegas, sixth-seeded Lee LeGrande and Mike Lambert upset third-seeded Eduardo Bacil and Frederico Souza in the opening round of the Paul Mitchell AVP shootout.
The Punahou graduates beat the third-seeded team 21-16, 21-11 in the first day of the three-day tournament.
HPU's Garbelotti hot against Azusa
No. 18 Hawaii Pacific beat Azusa Pacific Wednesday night 30-21, 30-24, 25-30, 30-19.Susy Garbelotti pounded 24 kills for the Sea Warriors (5-2) in the match at St. Andrew's Priory. The Cougars (5-2) hit just .071 in the match.