Hiroto Ohhara, Johanne Defay win U.S. Open of Surfing titles

The U.S. Open of Surfing got some international flavor with a twist of youth at Huntington Beach on Sunday afternoon.

On the men’s side, Hiroto Ohhara, 18, went from just barely getting into the event as an alternate to becoming the first Japanese champion in the history of the event.

For the women, Johanne Defay, 21, bested two former champions for France’s first win at the event.

Cloudless skies, no wind and warm temperatures drew thousands to the event, which ran for a week but culminated in the semifinals and finals on Sunday.

The fan-friendly conditions were not conducive to waves taller than three feet, and as a result, all heats were extended to 40 minutes from 30, in which surfers’ top two scored waves counted for their final scores.

That added time was crucial for both victors, whose winning waves came under the five-minute mark.

Defay, who entered the competition ranked 11th in the world and with no major career victories, benefited from some upsets on the opposite side of the bracket, as the world Nos. 1 and 2 went down in the semifinals and quarters, respectively.

However, in the final, she still had to contend with 2011 champion Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia, ranked third. Both surfers produced low scores early on, with neither cracking three points on any one wave in the first 10 minutes.

Defay had the first big score of the round, using three sharp snaps in succession nearly 15 minutes in to collect a 7.67 from the judges.

For the next 13 minutes, that seemed like all Defay would need, as the ocean stayed flat and neither surfer bothered to stand up. Then, Fitzgibbons rallied with two scores of 4.83 and 7 to take the lead.

With 3:20 to go, Defay caught a swell, whipped her board once, and then came back inside for one more snap and a score (5.87) good enough to secure the win, 13.54 to 11.83. With the victory, she climbs to No. 6 in the world rankings.

“I have no idea how it happened,” Defay said. “I don’t think I can put it into words. All the work I’ve done before, it just all came together.”

Ohhara got his winning wave a little earlier than Defay, and he rode it to the highest score of the day, 9.17. With four minutes remaining in the heat, he executed six snaps to pull away from Tanner Hendrickson, 14.5 to 12.9.

The matchup of Ohhara and Hendrickson was one nobody predicted when the main event started last Monday. Neither was ranked among the top 50 in the world, and defending champion Filipe Toledo looked unstoppable in the quarterfinals.

But Hendrickson upset Toledo in the semis, and Ohhara knocked off hometown favorite Kanoa Igarashi. The crowd didn’t hold it against him though, as roughly 35,000 spread across the beach and pier cheered him when he took the stage to accept the winner’s check of $100,000.

And lest anyone forget Ohhara is still a teenager fresh out of high school, he said he might spend the money to buy a car … once he gets his driver’s license.

“My coach drives a Porsche. So something like that. Either the same or a little less expensive,” he joked.

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Twitter: @greghadley9