Courtney Conlogue reaches the quarter-finals at Vans US Open of Surfing – Surfing news
America’s Courtney Conlogue made it through into the quarter-finals at the Vans US Open of Surfing, the sixth of eight stops on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Championship Tour, after claiming top honours in the opening
heat of Round 3 that went down at the Huntington Beach Pier in California, America, on Thursday, July 25, 2013.
The American surfer got the better of Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore and Brazil’s Silvana Lima to successfully claim the quarter-final spot, sending both her rivals into the fourth round to surf again for their place in the next stage of the competition.
Peaky two-to-four foot waves graced the main event site on the latest day of the competition. With such conditions on hand, the huge crowd in attendance naturally expected to get treated to a heavy dose of enthralling performances.
Conlogue her proved her form to be quite a formidable one in the very first round of the latest women’s elite tour event. However, her Round 3 battle had her pitted against the reigning five-time ASP Women’s World Champion Gilmore as well as the in-form
Lima.
The American surfer stepped up to meet the challenge head-on and went down to business from the start.
Using the local knowledge of the waves to her advantage, Conlogue locked her first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 7.50 on the scoreboard and kept the momentum going to back it up with a 7.93-point ride, thus getting to a heat-total
of 15.43 points. The effort proved to quite sufficient to earn her a convincing victory.
“I wanted to get a quick start because I knew with the high tide it’d be inconsistent,” Conlogue said. “That 7.5 was a treat to start. With the high tide you don’t really know if it’s going to shut down on you in a particular heat and I felt good out there
and in rhythm in the waves. I’m working on my mental strength lately, especially when you’re coming up against a five-time world champ and not letting that get in to your head. I’m really happy to get that win.”
Gilmore look out of sorts for the second time in three days of the competition and only managed to finish with a heat-total of 10.00 points. Lima failed to make much of an impact during the course of the battle as well and registered a modest two-wave total
of 9.03 points. Both the surfers were consequently relegated to the fourth round.
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