Courtney Conlogue wins 2013 TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival
America’s Courtney Conlogue took out the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival featuring AgroSciences Pro, the fourth of seven stops on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, after downing Hawaii’s Coco Ho in the final that went down
at Taranaki in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on Saturday, April 6, 2013.
“I put in a lot of hard work between last year and this year and I’m stoked to have it paying off with a win,” Conlogue said. “I’ve felt like I’ve been surfing well all year and have been building momentum up until this point. Really happy about today.”
With plenty of rippable waves on offer at the main event site on the final day of the competition, the crowd was certain about getting treated to a heavy dose of exquisite female surfing action.
As the final few heats of the competition unfolded, plenty of big surprises turned out to be on the cards.
The first surprise came as Conlogue defeated the reigning five-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore from Australia in the first semi-final.
The two girls took each other to the limit, but as the dust settled, it was the American surfer who emerged triumphant.
The second semi-final featured yet another big surprise, as Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons barely missed out on getting a place in the final after Ho just narrowly got past her on the score-board.
With both Conlogue and Ho taking down two of the biggest threats to the World Title, it was difficult to pick a favourite in the final.
However, the American surfer did not allow the suspense to last for too long, as she stamped her authority over Ho right from the word go in the battle for event win.
Making the right wave selections, she got herself a couple of really good scores to eventually register a heat-total of 14.00 points.
Ho looked a bit off-colour in the final and only managed to get to a two-wave total of 9.27, which just was not good enough at such a crucial stage of the event. As a result, was found herself suffering a comprehensive defeat in the final.
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