Carissa Moore defeats Lakey Peterson in second Semi-final of the Dow AgroSciences Pro
Hawaii’s Carissa Moore brought the excellent run by America’s Lakey Peterson to an end by defeating her in the second Semi-final of the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival featuring the Dow AgroSciences Pro, third of the seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing
Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Title Series, which continued at Fitzroy Beach in Taranaki, New Zealand, on Saturday, April 14.
The success over Peterson served to carry Moore into the Final of the event to face an in-form Stephanie Gilmore from Australia in a battle for the event title.
The clean three foot waves on offer at the primary event site on the final day of the latest ASP Women’s World Tour event set up an ideal stage for a series of battles between the most in-form prestigious female surfers.
Pitted against Peterson in the second Semi-final, Moore had a tough battle on her hands. The American surfer had been exhibiting a formidable form, one that even the likes of Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons was unable to counter during their Quarter-final
clash.
As the battle for the title shot got underway, the reigning ASP Women’s World Champion got down to business right away, locking her first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 6.50 on the score-board.
Keeping the momentum going, the 19-year-old Moore added an additional 6.43 points to her account to finish with a heat-total of 12.93 points.
The 17-year-old Peterson was nothing short of impressive while responding to her rival’s performance. Locking her first business-wave, she posted a 6.93 on the score-board and went on to back it up with a 5.00-point wave. The resultant heat-total of 11.93
points put her in a 1.00-point deficit, consequently forcing her to concede victory to her rival.
“It’s my best result this year so I can’t be too bummed,” Peterson said afterwards. “A 3rd is really good for me. The waves are super fun, but I kind of fell apart in that heat. Earlier I think there was more rights, but in that one it was more lefts. I’m
not bummed about my performance, but it’s hard to come that close to a Final and not make it. It’s good when I surf against girls like Carissa [Moore], Steph [Gilmore] and Sally [Fitzgibbons] because it pushes you to surf way better.”
With the final of the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival featuring the Dow AgroSciences Pro pitting Moore against Gilmore, the event was expected to come down to an epic finish.
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