Carissa Moore and Sally Fitzgibbons head into Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach Quarter-finals
Hawaii’s Carissa Moore and Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons emerged triumphant in their respective Round 3 heats of Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Fiesta that continued at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on Thursday, April 5.
Moore got the better of Hawaii’s Coco Ho and Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich in the third heat to advance straight into the Quarter-final. Both Ho and Mulanovich got relegated to the fourth round after finishing in second and third place respectively.
The fourth heat saw Fitzgibbons down America’s Lakey Peterson and Courtney Conlogue to confirm her place in the Quarter-finals, consequently forcing both her American rivals to take a trip to the relegation Round 4 to surf again in order to progress further in the event.
The latest day of the second Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour event of the year saw clean four-to-six foot waves breaking at the primary event site. The crowd anticipated a heavy dose of thrilling action as the world’s best female surfers took each other on in a battle to go straight into the Quarter-finals without having to surf in Round 4.
Pitted against Ho and Mulanovich in the third heat, the reigning ASP Women’s World Champion Moore continued her excellent run of form to put on yet another spectacular performance. The 19-year-old Hawaiian locked her first business-wave to post a near-perfect 9.47 on the score-board and went on to back it up with an 8.17-point wave in the dying minutes of the battle. The resultant heat-total of 17.64 points held up until the end to see her through into the Quarter-finals.
“I would love a big bell,” Moore said. “I think we’re all really excited that the waves are so good this year and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down. So hopefully we continue to score great conditions and have a good finish.”
Ho got off to an excellent start, scoring a 9.27 off her first business-wave, but failed to back it up with another decent score. Adding an additional 3.33 points to her account, she finished with a heat-total of 12.60 points.
Mulanovich had managed to bounce back after her Round 1 stumble, but failed to deliver a decent performance once again in the third round. Scoring a heat-total of 5.86 points, which included a 3.43 and 2.43-point wave, the Peruvian surfer accompanied Ho into the relegation Round 4.
The fourth heat pitted the 2011 ASP Women’s World Runner-Up Fitzgibbons against Peterson and Conlogue in a battle for the Quarter-final slot.
The Australian sensation continued to exhibit a formidable form, putting on yet another superb performance to walk away with the win.
Locking her first wave halfway through the heat, Fitzgibbons posted a 7.83 on the score-board and went on to back it up with an impressive 8.07-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 15.90 points.
Peterson finished behind the Australian in second place after earning an 8.87 off her first business-wave and adding an additional 6.33 to her account in the dying minutes of the heat. However, the resultant heat-total of 15.20 points put her in a 0.70-point deficit, consequently relegating her to Round 4.
Conlogue accompanied Peterson into the fourth round after rounding out the top-three in the heat with a heat-total of 14.93 points, which comprised of a couple of scores in the seven-point range.
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