Carissa Moore eliminated by Courtney Conlogue in Round 4 of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic
The fourth heat of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic’s Round 4 featured the biggest upset of the day as America’s Courtney Conlogue prevailed over Hawaii’s Carissa Moore to eliminate from the fourth of seventh stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing
Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour running at the Dee Why point in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, April 20.
Conlogue, 2011 ASP Breakthrough Performer of the Year, seemed to have arrived at the latest event site with a strong resolve to not bow out to the intimidating talent that made up the competition field. The battles against the prestigious female surfers
were never going to be easy, especially with the likes of the reigning ASP Women’s World Champion Moore, former four-time ASP World Champion Stephanie Gilmore and an intimidating Sally Fitzgibbons competing alongside her for the event title.
Rather than giving in to pressure, the young American surfer had made up her mind to step up and do her best to try and beat the odds no matter how strongly they were against her.
Moore was under immense pressure as well as she needed to progress further in the event in order to defend her title against the likes of Gilmore and Fitzgibbons. She had faltered during her Round 3 heat and thus found herself standing on the edge, facing
a do-or-die situation.
As the battle between Conlogue and Moore got underway, the latter got down to business right away, locking her first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 6.75 on the score-board. She soon backed it up with another 6.75-point ride to
move to a heat-total of 13.50 points.
Conlogue rose to meet the challenge head on, determined to get her hands on the win. Finding a 7.50-point ride in the early stages of the heat, she got herself in a position to challenge her rival’s score. She went through a series of average scores before
collecting a 6.05-point ride to reach a heat-total of 13.55 points, merely 0.05 points ahead of Moore.
The small difference in scores made a huge impact though as it served to seal the fate of the battle in Conlogue’s favour, consequently eliminating Moore from the competition.
“Carissa [Moore] has been ahead of me on the numbers since we got on tour,” Conlogue said. “It’s nice to beat her. She’s surfing great this year, I always look forward to watching her surf. Every single time I get to the Quarterfinals I either come up against
Carissa or Steph [Gilmore]. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I’m super excited I won that heat.”
Moore admitted that her chances of retaining the ASP Women’s World Title were pretty much dead, with Gilmore of Fitzgibbons as two of the strongest contenders for the coveted crown this year.
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