Carissa Moore walks away victorious: 2011 Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic
After numerous adrenaline-pumping contests over the past few days, the 2011 Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic, the fourth of the seven stops of this year’s Association of Women’s Professional Women’s World Tour, reached its climax on Friday, May 6, at the Dee Why Point in New South Wales, Australia.
After an exciting showdown between two heavy-weights of women’s surfing, it was Hawaii’s Carissa Moore who managed to prevail over her rival, Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich, to clinch the victory, taking home the US$40,000 prize-money and valuable ASP ranking points.
The tides on Friday could not be regarded as ideal for such a crucial stage of the event. Throughout the course of the competition, the surfs turned out to be uncooperative, reaching a maximum of six feet. However, the the low-height tides were not able to keep the leading female surfers in the world from putting up outstanding performances. Both, Mulanovich and Moore contested such conditions to reach the last stage of the event and were mentally prepared for the difficult task of landing a good wave.
As the final got underway, both the women got down to business right away. The 27-year-old Mulanovich put her rival under pressure by nailing an impressive wave. Trailing the Peruvian for most of the final, the Hawaiian finally leaped forward with a couple of spectacular waves that impressed the judges and the crowd alike. After a real nail-biter, Moore walked away with her second win of the season. She finished the final with a two-wave score of 15.60 against Mulanovich’s 14.60.
Moore walked away with a well-deserved applause after winning the final. She also got her hands on the largest prize cheque in women’s surfing history. Besides from the prize-money, she also earned points worth 11,000. This has allowed her to surpass in the season's standings with a lead of 3,350 over the surfer who came in the second place, Sally Fitzgibbons from Australia. Both the women have shared victories till now, with Moore winning the first and fourth stop, while the Australian emerging as triumphant in the second and third event.
“I've been fired up ever since the last two events with Sally (Fitzgibbons) and I'm just super excited I was able to come out on top this time,” said Moore.
Mulanovich is not too disappointed with her second place finish. Talking to ASP, she said, “I haven't been on the podium for a while and I'm just stoked to be here. It feels amazing! Carissa is an amazing surfer and she's really hard to beat although I was beating her for a while out there, I surprised myself.”
The ladies will be leaving for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday to participate in the fifth stop of the season, the Billabong Rio Pro.
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