ISLE FILE
Irons gains semifinals of surf meet in Chile
Advertiser Staff
Kaua'i's Andy Irons won two heats yesterday to advance to the semifinals of the Rip Curl Pro Search contest.
The fifth day of the competition was completed in 6-foot waves at Arica, Chile.
Irons received scores of 8.93 and 8.17 to defeat Australia's Kai Otton in the fourth round. Irons then dominated his quarterfinal heat, defeating Australia's Joel Parkinson, 14.67-5.43.
"I was lucky because I had no (wave) priority," Irons said. "He had the priority most of the time and I was catching waves off of his inside. In the previous heat, there were actually some pretty good sets and they never came in ours."
Last month, Parkinson beat Irons in a quarterfinal heat at a contest in Tahiti.
"He got me in Tahiti and I got him here, so it's even this year," Irons said.
Irons is the only Hawai'i surfer remaining in the contest. Fred Patacchia Jr. of O'ahu's North Shore was eliminated in the fourth round by Florida's C.J. Hobgood.
World champion Kelly Slater of Florida was eliminated in the fourth round by Australia's Dean Morrison.
SHOOTING
TANOUE TRIUMPHS
Kaimuki's Ryan Tanoue won the 10-meter air rifle at the USA Shooting Rifle/Pistol National Championships at Ft. Benning's International Shooting Complex in Columbus, Ga., over the weekend.
Tanoue, a 2001 Saint Louis School graduate and four-time All-American at Nevada, scored 1284.0 points, 3.5 points ahead of runner-up Jason Parker.
Tanoue finished third last year.
GOLF
CHING TIED FOR 13TH
Alex Ching, who will be a senior at Punahou in the fall, is tied for 13th after the first round of the American Junior Golf Association's Mission Hills Desert Junior at Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Ching opened with a 1-under-par 71 yesterday at the 7,000-yard Mission Hills Country Club. He is four shots off the lead of San Diego's Chris Cho.
The tournament ends tomorrow.
At the girls AJGA Houchens Industries Junior Open in Alvaton, Ky., Wailuku's Kyung Kim is tied for the 14th after shooting a 12-over 84.
Kim, who recently finished the seventh grade at Maui Waena Intermediate and is moving to Arizona, won the event's qualifier on Sunday.
Emma Talley of Kentucky leads after shooting a 2-over 74.
