He may have been the least heralded of all four finalists, at least in terms of career accomplishment. But Keoni Yan brushed that aside and surfed his way to victory at the Sunset Pro, earning his first ever World Surf
He may have been the least heralded of all four finalists, at least in terms of career accomplishment. But Keoni Yan brushed that aside and surfed his way to victory at the Sunset Pro, earning his first ever World Surf League win in some challenging finals conditions.
Kauai’s Evan Valiere also reached the final and picked up the heat’s best wave with a 6.75 on his opening effort. But score-worthy waves were few and far between and Valiere was held without a second ride. His run through the draw earned him a third-place finish, topping a pretty strong cumulative effort from the Garden Isle’s competitors.
Valiere’s semifinal win was fairly dominant as he tallied the round’s top two-wave total, only surfing three waves in the process. His 15.00 moved him into the final four along with former Triple Crown champion Myles Padaca. Padaca went on to take second place, coming up less than a point short of Yan’s championship total.
Tanner Hendrickson, who’s had the most Qualifying Series success of the four, took fourth place with just one wave ridden for a 1.00 in the final heat.
Valiere is a frequent face at WSL events during the Hawaii winter season. It would have been great to see him able to perform in bigger and better waves during the final, but he was certainly one of the event standouts.
The quarterfinals featured the final 16 surfers and only a pair were from outside Hawaii. The starting field featured more than 80 percent Hawaii competitors, so their dominance was likely to show through, which it certainly did.
Kauai’s Koa Smith and Kaimana Jaquias each reached the quarters after receiving byes into the Round of 64. Jaquias won both his third and fourth-round heats, topping some of the state’s best in the process. His third-round heat highlighted Hawaii’s youth movement as he bested Kaito Kino in second and knocked out former Team Hawaii juniors Cody Young and Elijah Gates.
Jaquias then scored just one wave in round four, but it was a biggie. His 8.25 was the second-highest wave score of the round — behind only Valiere’s 8.50 — and he never needed a backup score to pick up the victory over Makaukai Rothman, Gavin Gillette and Eala Stewart.
Koa Smith earned his fourth-round win in a competitive heat, his narrow win coming against Makai McNamara in second and eliminating Brazil’s Victor Bernardo and Hawaii junior Imaikalani Devault. Koa’s contest could have extended into the semis, but his quarterfinal heat was a tight grouping and he fell just 0.4 points shy of advancing.
Both Gillette and Alex Smith were eliminated in round four, while Dylan Goodale, Danny Fuller and Chris Foster were knocked out in round three.
The waves continue Thursday on Oahu when the stakes bump up a bit for the Volcom Pipe Pro. As a QS 3,000 contest, many of the same names are scheduled to participate, along with some Championship Tour surfers. It will feature a few of Pipeline’s most notable chargers including John John Florence, Kelly Slater, Jamie O’Brien, Sebastian Zietz and Dusty Payne.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com
