Carissa Moore succumbs to Sage Erickson in Round 1 of TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival
America’s Sage Erickson walked away with top honours from her respective Round 1 heat at the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival featuring the Dow AgroSciences Pro, third of seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, which
continued at Fitzroy Beach in Taranaki, New Zealand, on Wednesday, April 11.
Erickson got the better of Hawaii’s Carissa Moore and New Zealand’s Paige Hareb in the fifth heat of Round 1 to advance straight into the third round while relegating both her rivals into the second round to surf again to earn their place in Round 3.
The ASP Top 17 female surfer saw two-to-three foot lefts and rights breaking at the primary event site on the opening day of the competition. An ideal stage was set up for the prestigious surfers to treat the fans to a heavy dose of thrilling surfing action.
Moore, reigning ASP Women’s World Champion, was expected to pass through the first round of the competition without any problem. However, the very first heat that she surfed in resulted in one of the biggest upsets of the day as the Erickson managed to prevail
over her to advance straight into the third round.
The 21-year-old American surfer got off to a modest start, but managed to find a 5.60-point ride halfway through the heat to take the lead. Continuing the momentum, she caught her second business-wave to add an additional 5.90 points to her account to finish
with a heat-total of 11.50 points. The score turned out to be a decisive one, sealing the fate of the contest in her favour.
“It was a big heat on paper,” Erickson said. “I’m just looking to gain confidence and experience in heats like that by beating those big names. It feels really good to come out on top of that one. It’s funny, even though I’m a regular footer, I feel more
confident on my backside. I saw that last year most of the waves here were lefts so I was excited to come to New Zealand for this event. It’s a beautiful place and I’m just trying to absorb it all.”
The 19-year-old Moore finished behind Erickson in second place after earning a 4.00 and 6.50 off her best-two waves for a heat-total of 10.50 points.
Hareb scored a 4.75 and 6.25 off her first two waves, but ended up receiving an interference call in the dying minutes of the heat. The penalty reduced her heat-total to an 8.63, consequently putting her in third place and sending her into the second round
alongside Moore.
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