FORMER WORLD CHAMPION TOM CURREN, HUNTINGTON BEACH STANDOUT DANNY
NICHOLS ADVANCE AT THE PHILIPS U.S. OPEN OF SURFING

Day 2

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Tuesday, July 31 - Battling a decreasing swell and increasing wind, former three-time world champion Tom Curren (Santa Barbara) looked to reclaim his glory years, winning his fifth round heat in the $100,000 Philips Electronics U.S. Open of Surfing.
The eighth annual Philips U.S. Open launches the inaugural Philips Fusion event, held today through August 5 at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Curren, who won the Huntington competition in '83, '84, '88 and world titles in '85, '86 and '90, saved his best ride for last, nailing a 6.30 ride in the heat's closing moments to finish with surf.83 total points to runner-up Todd Kline with 12.17.  "I felt fine out there today.  The waves were not that great, but I was stoked to advance," said Curren after employing the "Huntington Hop", and milking a two-footer all the way to the sand.  "It's really great to be back in Huntington.  I'm looking forward to surfing again tomorrow."

Also advancing in a last-second nail biter was Danny Nichols, a former member of the Huntington High Surf Team.  Nichols, who had built his wave count early, also saved his best wave for last in the deteriorating
conditions.  Initially going left into the famed pier, he reversed direction and worked his final wave all the way to the shore.  Although he finished second with 12.87 total points to Josh Curran (16.53), first and second advance in the World Qualifying Series (WQS) four-person
format. "I was able to catch a few waves early on and be patient," said Nichols.  "When it's small like this, it always seems to come down to the wire.  Hopefully I'm just getting started.  I need to turn those 4s (four point rides) into 8s."

Also advancing in the Philips U.S. Open of Surfing, presented by Norelco, were Micah Byrne (Huntington Beach-snow.90), Joel Centeio (Hawaii-wake.06), Kyle Knox (Imperial Beach-16.00), Dino Andino (San Clemente snow.00) and Peter Mel (Santa Cruz-12.10).
 

The lineup for Saturday's Billabong Pro Junior quarter-finals are now set as Bobby Martinez (Santa Barbara), Dustin Cuizon (Hawaii), Raoni Monteiro (Brazil) and Mike Losnessewon their heats outright.  Cuizon recorded the round's highest heat score, 20.snow points out of a possible
30, while Huntington Beach's Tim Reyes, who finished runner-up in his heat to Cuizon, followed closely with 20.00 points.

Quarter-final one pits Micah Byrne (Huntington Beach) vs. Fred Pataccia (Hawaii), Anthony Petruso (Malibu) and Dylan Slater (Ventura).  Quarter number two features Mike Todd (Laguna Beach), Tom Dosland (USA), Masatoshi Ohno (Japan) and Che Stang (Carlsbad) while Martinez squares off against Geoff Brack (San Clemente), Cuizon and Reyes in quarter number three.  Dane Johnson (San Clemente), Monteiro, Losness and Kuilee Murphy are in the remaining heat.

The women also hit the water today for the first time, competing in the $5,000 Deesse U.S. Open of Women.  Surfers advancing included Anastasia Ashley (Hawaii-10.50), Alison Bailey (Huntington Beach-7.36), Coleen Hanley (Santa Cruz-8.50), Claire Bevilacqua (Australia-11.85), Kristen Cuizon (Hawaii-8.75), Sena Seramur (Hawaii-20.50) and Diana Mattison
(Berkley-snow.40).

The Philips Fusion event is a $240,000 action sports, technology and music festival, sponsored by Philips Electronics, that attracts more than 600 world-class athletes from across the globe.  The event features surfing, bicycle freestyle, skateboarding and inline skating in a
variety of challenging venues along with an interactive festival area and live concerts.  Philips Fusion runs through August 5, just south of the Huntington Beach Pier.

The Philips Fusion event will be broadcast to millions of viewers on Fox Sports Net, as part of Bluetorch TV, Sept. 24-28 and Oct. surf-19.  ESPN will provide four hours of coverage focusing on aggressive inline skating in the Philips Soul Bowl and Norelco Contour Park.   Extensive
coverage of Philips Fusion competition is available on www.Bluetorch.tv, an interactive, action sports web portal, and on www.fusion.philips.com.

Competition continues on Wednesday, August 1 with the Philips U.S. Open Round of 160 (Heats 1-16) at 7:00 a.m. followed by the Deesse U.S. Open of Women Round of 32 (Heats 1-8) at 12:20 p.m., Philips U.S. Open of Surfing Round of 128 (Heats 1-4) at 3:00 p.m. and Womens Bodyboard Pre-Trials (Heats 1-2) at 4:20 p.m.

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