DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Keala Kennelly ripped through a wave yesterday.
Kennelly’s first pro
win in Hawaii gives her
Triple Crown’s second jewelThe Kauai native dominates
the final to earn the Turtle Bay
Resort Women's Pro title
Hawaii's Keala Kennelly carved her way to her first professional victory in the state and first Vans Triple Crown of Surfing event title yesterday, winning the second jewel of the series, the Turtle Bay Resort Women's Pro.
The ninth-year pro is currently the top-ranked women's surfer in the world, and the win gives Kennelly a great shot at both the Triple Crown and world championships with only one more event to go.
"I love to come out here and do well in the Triple Crown, in front of my home crowd, in my home waters," said the 25-year-old who currently resides in Honolulu but was raised in Hanalei, Kauai. Kennelly placed second at the Turtle Bay Pro last year.
"It's nice to get a good result at home," she added, "get some momentum."
Already recognized as one of the best female big-wave surfers on the planet, and with victories at other premier surf destinations like Tahiti and Fiji, Kennelly ironically broke through for the win at Turtle Bay in fickle, windblown waves that never offered anything bigger than an 8-foot face.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Megan Abubo and Keala Kennelly, who finished second and first at yesterday's Triple Crown event, surfed together as kids.
Still, she dominated the four-woman final at the right-handed point break, catching 10 total waves in the 30-minute heat. Surfing mostly with her back to the waves, Kennelly executed one vertical backside lip bash after another, eventually cashing in on the $3,500 first prize.
Her top two waves were the two highest-scoring rides of the final -- 7.83 and 8.23 points. Kennelly's winning total of 16.06 (out of 20 maximum) was 4.36, better than second-place Megan Abubo (11.70), also of Hawaii.
"It's all about getting two good scores, and I went out there and tried to do it," Kennelly said. "And it was just like amateur days, me and Megan battling it out."
Said Haleiwa's Abubo, also 25: "(Kennelly and I) used to surf this place when we were little kids, since we were 12 years old. It was kind of funny paddling out with her -- and us finishing first and second, it's kind of classic."
Peru's Sofia Mulanovich (11.43) -- the winner of the first Triple Crown event, the Roxy Pro, last Friday -- finished third, while Australia's Rebecca Woods (9.84) took fourth.
As the only surfer to make the first two Triple Crown finals, Mulanovich, 20, currently leads the overall series standings with 2,076 points and only the Billabong Pro Maui at Honolua Bay (Dec. 8-20) remaining. The best performer in the three events will be awarded the Triple Crown championship.
"When you're here, that's always your dream -- to win the Triple Crown," Mulanovich said. "I'm just stoked I'm leading."
But Kennelly isn't far behind, sitting in second place with 1,800 points. Abubo is third with 1,764, and Waianae's Melanie Bartels fourth with 1,698.
And while the first two Triple Crown events did not count toward the world title race, the Billabong Pro does. Kennelly leads current No. 2 and five-time defending world champ Layne Beachley of Australia by 36 points (3,120 to 3,084) in that race, and there are at least three others with a shot, including Mulanovich at No. 5.
No Hawaii woman has ever won the Triple Crown championship, nor has one won a world championship since Margo Oberg in 1981 -- yet with yesterday's win Kennelly now has the chance to do both in the same year.
"Keala is on top of the ratings right now, and I definitely thinks she's the favorite going into Honolua," Abubo said. "She surfs so good there, and there's no better place to be than home when you're trying to win."
Notes: The Turtle Bay event was the finale for the 2003 World Qualifying Series, which allowed competitors to earn points toward qualifying for the elite 16-woman World Championship Tour in 2004. With yesterday's result, Abubo assured her re-qualification for next year's WCT. Bartels is the 2003 WQS champ -- the first Hawaii surfer, male or female, to win the series since it started 11 years ago.
Surf permitting, the second jewel of the men's Triple Crown of Surfing -- the Rip Curl Cup at Sunset Beach -- will begin today with a one-day trials segment. The four trials finalists earn berths into the 48-man main event. The Rip Curl will be held on the best four days of surf between now and Dec. 7.
