Carissa Moore and Sally Fitzgibbons advance to Billabong Rio Pro final – Surfing news
Hawaii’s Carissa Moore defeated Brazil’s Silvana Lima in the 2011 Billabong Rio Pro to qualify for the final on Sunday, May 15 at the Barra Da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the other heat, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons prevailed over her compatriot, Stephanie Gilmore to advance to the final stage of the event.
The conditions at the event site had remained unsuitable throughout the week, presenting low tides of around one to three foot waves only. There was not a huge improvement in the tides on Sunday either, but the two to four foot waves were welcomed by the
event organisers. The four semi-finalist surfers were mentally prepared to make the best out of the challenging conditions.
The semi-final began with Moore facing Lima in the first heat. Both the surfers had overcome a number of challenges to get this far, though the Brazilian was seen struggling at times, unlike the Hawaiian who had remained consistent and impressive in the
event.
Going against the in-form Moore, Lima surely needed to come up with something special to overcome her rival. Though she gave an impressive performance in front of her hometown crowd and earned a total score of 10.33 after her two waves, it just was not enough
to keep Moore from walking away with victory. Moore’s 13.67 allowed her to oust her Brazilian rival from the competition to advance to the final stage of the Billabong Rio Pro.
Talking to the media later, the 26-year-old Lima said, “I’m so excited to have matched my best result in front of my home crowd. Of course I wanted to make the Final, but I’m so happy with my result and thanks to everyone for all of the support.”
In the second heat, the in-form Australian Fitzgibbons was up against her compatriot and the four-time reigning ASP Women’s World Champion, Gilmore. Both the surfers locked on a couple of good waves, but Gilmore was not able to capitalise on the opportunity
as effectively as her rival. In the end, the 20-year-old Fitzgibbons came up with a two-wave score of 13.16 to beat Gilmore’s 9.23 and progress to the final.
While talking to the media after her heat, Gilmore said, “It was tough work out there. Sally (Fitzgibbons) got a couple and I had some opportunities. I only needed a six and was too deep on that wave that came in at the end. Sally’s in the zone right now.”
Her defeat in Rio de Janeiro put her out of contention for the title, marking an end of her four-year reign as the world champion.
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