FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Masa Kurita of the International Karate Federation took on Haruki Fukaya of Japan during a. Team Kumite competition at the Hawaii State Karate-Do Championships yesterday.
Irons aces Sunset Beach
Current ratings leader Andy Irons moved closer to his first world surfing title with a win in the first round of the Rip Curl Cup at Sunset Beach yesterday.
Irons jumped on a long tube and finished with a carving cutback to post a near-perfect 9.75 and beat Hawaii's Pancho Sullivan and Peterson Rosa of Brazil. Irons added that ride -- which was the highest scoring effort of the day -- to an earlier seven-point run to score 16.75 points, which was also the highest combined score of the day.
"I felt really shaky at the start of that heat," Irons said. "I saw Pancho get a really good wave, so it was pretty nerve-racking out there. I thought it was going to close out, but I didn't want him to get it. As I was dropping in I saw the thing start to barrel, so I just went for it and the backwash kept it open, so I was lucky."
Defending Rip Curl Cup winner Myles Padaca of Hawaii, a wild card in this year's tournament, defeated current ratings runner-up Luke Egan and fellow Australian Michael Campbell. Padaca showed his knowledge of the break, finding a couple of tubes as he pushed the Aussies into the elimination round. After breaking his leg doing some tow-in surfing earlier this year, the win represents even more satisfaction for him.
"I'm feeling excellent at the moment, being able to go out there and get barreled," Padaca said. "It's pretty special to be surfing here at Sunset with just two other guys, as there's normally 40 to 60 people out.
"I'm really good friends with Andy Irons and anything I can do to help him win the world title ... being from Hawaii I'm all for a (Hawaii surfer) to win. I've nothing against Luke as he's a great guy, but I'd like to see Andy win the world title."
Shane Dorian was Hawaii's other winner in the first round, scoring 15.75 points to put away Luke Hitchings of Australia (12.75) and Damien Hobgood (6.25).
Bruce Irons and Kalani Robb finished second in their heats, with Bruce Irons ending up four points behind Neco Padaratz of Brazil and Robb falling to Flavio Padaratz -- Neco's older brother -- 12.6-10.5.
The Rip Curl Cup is the second jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and had been postponed for the past six days due to unfavorable conditions.
Tournament officials nearly began the second round Saturday in the 6-8 foot waves, but opted for yesterday when they were expecting another swell.
Bremler, Larson cruise to Sam's 5k titles
Local collegiate runners Hanna Bremler and Chris Larson won the Sam's 5k run at Kapiolani Park yesterday.Bremler, a freshman at UH from Tyreso, Sweden, beat Hawaii Pacific's Sayuri Kusutani by three seconds to take the women's title in 17:22.
Larson gave HPU a win in the men's race, beating Richard Trevino by 34 seconds. The sophomore from Grand Forks, N.D., ran it in 16:10.
Jones, Singletary to talk about the Tide
Hawaii head football coach June Jones and defensive line coach Vantz Singletary will review Saturday's loss to Alabama at tomorrow's Na Koa lunch.The coaches will go over game film and preview the season finale against San Diego State.
The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. at the All-Star Café.
Hilo loses to Aggies in title game
Kyle Bartholomew scored 14 points and Derek Mgbeke added 13, but the Hawaii-Hilo basketball team lost to Utah State 71-60 in the title game of the Hilo Shootout yesterday.The Vulcans fell to 2-1, while the Aggies improved to 5-0 and were led by Spencer Nelson's 17 points.
Ryan Abrahams scored 10 points for the Vulcans and was named to the all-tournament team.
