Kirby Wright and Alisha Gonsalves emerge triumphant in Round 1 of Movistar Women’s Pro
Australia’s Kirby Wright and America’s Alisha Gonsalves moved to the second round (Round of 48) at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Movistar Women’s Pro presented by Rip Curl and Petrolera Sapet after walking away with top honours from
their respective Round 1 (Round of 60) heats that went down at Lobitos in Piura, Peru, on Tuesday, July 24.
Peru’s Estephani Tello managed to get her hands on the runner-up place to accompany Wright into the next round, while her rival Vania Torres was forced to make a premature exit from the competition after finishing in third place.
The fourth round saw Peru’s Lorene Chauvel secure second-place finish to advance with Gonsalves into the second round. Ecuador’s Illiana Aguirre finished third place to find herself eliminated from the competition.
With sunny skies, offshore winds and two-to-three foot waves on offer at the primary event site, the female surfers clearly had an ideal canvas on their hands to put their surfing prowess on display.
The third heat saw Kirby, sister of ASP World Tour contenders Owen and Tyler Wright, take on Tello and Torres in a three-person battle for the Round 2 spot.
As the battle got underway, Wright got off to a slow start, but eventually managed to post a 6.00 and 4.80 on the scoreboard off her best-two waves, eventually finishing with a decisive heat-total of 10.80 points.
“This is my first time here in Peru and it’s been a great experience so far,” said Kirby Wright. “The waves are really good and I’m excited to get into the next round in such an important event. I hear tomorrow (Wednesday) it’s going to get bigger and better,
so it’s great to be able to take advantage of such good conditions in Lobitos.”
Tello remained busy throughout the course of the battle, but only managed to reach a heat-total of 9.35 points, which included a 5.00 and 4.35-point ride. It proved sufficient, however, to earn her runner-up position.
Torres failed to make much of an impact during the heat and only managed to collect a couple of scores in the three-point range off her best-two waves to consequently finishing in third place with a heat-total of 7.35 points.
The fourth heat saw Gonsalves walk away with the win after scoring a 3.90 and 6.25 off her best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 10.15 points.
Chauvel finished in runner-up place after scoring a 2.50 off her first business-wave and backing it up with a 2.85-point ride to finish with a heat-total of 5.35 points.
Aguirre finished in third place after scoring a 1.40 and 1.45 off her best-two waves for a heat-total of 2.85 points.
The exciting surfing action continued at the point-break of Lobitos with the remaining Round 1 heats of ASP 6-Star Movistar Women’s Pro.
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