Courtney Conlogue defeats Lakey Peterson in Estoril Surf & Music Billabong Girls Pro final
After featuring numerous intense and exciting contests, Estoril Surf & Music Billabong Girls Pro finally reached the mother of all battles, the final, on Saturday afternoon, June 11th, at the beach-break of Praia do Guincho in Estoril, Portugal.
America’s Courtney Conlogue prevailed over her compatriot, Lakey Peterson, in the event finale to clinch the win and get her hands on the title.
After witnessing Conlogue’s performances on Friday and Saturday, there was hardly any doubt about the woman being in top form. She was hardly doing anything wrong during her heats and even the difficult surfing conditions were unable to make her falter.
Conlogue had dominated the first day of the competition and was yet to show any mercy to her opponents on the second day as well. She had indeed announced herself as one of the strongest contender for the event title in her very first heat of the competition
and continued to look threatening ever since.
Peterson, on the other hand, had a roller-coaster ride in the event so far. Though she had managed to win majority of her heats, there had been some evident hiccups and kinks in her form. However, the way she performed in the semi-final to eliminate Peru’s
Sofia Mulanovich from the title race, there was a good chance for her to create another upset in the final.
The surfing conditions at the time of the final were quite challenging, with merely two-foot tides and strong cross shore winds. Despite such conditions, Conlogue asserted her dominance in the initial moments of the final. Locking the very first wave that
came her way, she earned herself a decent 6.33 score off it to take an early lead and put her rival under pressure. Peterson soon responded with a 5.33-point wave to narrow the gap.
A while later, Peterson added 4.40 points to her score to finish with a two-wave total of 9.73 points. While the score did not seem like a fighting one, it was still too early to say anything due to the low tides and strong cross shore winds that were prevailing
at the primary event site.
However, Conlogue remained unfazed by the conditions and continued to hunt for a good second-wave score. She eventually got rewarded for her persistence, scoring an impressive 7.67 points off a wave in the final moments of the heat to end the contest with
a heat-total of 14.00 and seal the fate of the competition.
Talking to the media later, the victorious American said, “I feel pretty good now and it has been a crazy week and I’m stoked to be on the podium in this event. Every single heat I had to be on my toes because it was not an easy win. Now I am heading home
to have some rest which I am looking forward to because it has been a long year so far.”
The victory allowed Conlogue to solidify her No.1 position on the ASP Women’s Star Tour rankings.
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