O'Neill World Cup of Surfing 2005 - WQS Sunset Beach, Hawaii

SULLIVAN'S WCT FUTURE SET AT O'NEILL WORLD CUP OF SURFING
Huntington Beach's Brett Simpson Vans Triple Crown 'Nose Guard' Rookie of the Year

Sunset Beach, HAWAII - (Monday, November 28, 2005) - On the momentum of last week's win at Haleiwa in the first jewel of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, Pancho Sullivan (Hawaii) blazed through his opening heat of the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing today with the second-highest heat score of the fifth round - 16.4 points out of 20. Now one round shy of the quarter finals, Sulivan's place on next year's coveted ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Championship Tour (WCT) is set. The day's highest heat score came in the very last heat, posted by Australian Mick Fanning, courtesy of a 9.4 and 9.0 rides.

Seeded directly into round five alongside defending Triple Crown champion Sunny Garcia, there was little room for third- and fourth-placed surfers Adrian Buchan (Australia) and Guilherme Herdy (Brazil), to get a look in on the heat. Both Sullivan, 32, and Garcia, 35, powered through fan-tailing turns and wove their way through tube rides to steal the show in 10-foot surf. It was a handing of the baton from Garcia, who retires at the end of December, to Sullivan, who is both the latest and the oldest Hawaiian to make it onto the WCT. But Garcia won't be calling it a day until this Triple Crown is over.

"He's taking over the big man's spot," Garcia said of Pancho's WCT qualification. "I'm retiring and he'll be the new Hawaii surfer on tour.

"Panchos a good friend of mine and we go out there and cheer each other on. I'd like to see him win the Triple Crown if I can't, but I wouldn't bet against myself!"

Pancho is doing his best not to think about next year's WCT debut, totally focused on the task at hand in the Triple Crown.

"I've always been striving for consistency at all three (Triple Crown) venues," said Sullivan. "My main focus is always the Triple Crown. It's my world title, or at least that's how I look at it.

"It would be great to surf all the way through with Sunny and meet up in the final. It would be an honor to be with Sunny in the final - I don't think I've ever been in a final with him out here."

The entrance of the top seeds into the competition today did much to hype up a huge weekday crowd, particularly when so many underdogs were making good of the opportunity. By day's end, almost half (15) of the 32 top seeds had been eliminated, with young guns the likes of Nathan Carroll (Hawaii), Tim Reyes (California), Bede Durbidge (Australia), and Brett Simpson forging their way towards the major placings. For Simpson, who made the first final of his career at Haleiwa last week, his performance at this event has already earned him the coveted Nose Guard Vans Triple Crown Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow Huntington Beach surfer Reyes was the recipient of this award last year. Simpson, 20, will be presented with his award at the conclusion of the O'Neill World Cup final.

Throughout the course of the day, waves dropped from a solid 10-feet in the morning to 6- to 8-feet by afternoon, but the high scoring rides kept coming. Top single wave scores today went to Kieren Perrow (Australia) 9.47, Mick Fanning (Australia) 9.4 and 9.0, Gabe Kling (USA) and Yuri Sodre (Brazil) each counting an 8.83, and Joel Parkinson (Australia) with an 8.5. Others to advance included Maz Quinn (New Zealand), Andy Irons (Hawaii), David Weare (South Africa), and C.J. Hobgood (USA). Eliminations included that of Makua Rothman (Hawaii), Bruce Irons (Hawaii), and Mark Occhilupo (Australia).

With this swell episode forecast to drop into tomorrow, it is possible that there will be a break in competition tomorrow before the onset of a new swell for Wednesday. There are two days of competition still to run, including the women's O'Neill Sunset Challenge. For live coverage and a complete list of results: www.triplecrownofsurfing.com For up-to-the-minute surf forecasting: www.surfline.com . Surfline is the official surf forecaster for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is made possible through the support of Op, Roxy, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Billabong, Surfing, Oahu’s Turtle Bay Beach Resort, Hawaiian Airlines, G-Shock, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Fox Sports Net and Road Runner High Speed Online