Laura Enever and Tyler Wright shine on day 1 of Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach
Australia’s Laura Enever and her compatriot Tyler Wright prevailed in the opening heats of Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Fiesta that went down at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on Tuesday, April 3.
Enever got the better of New Zealand’s Paige Hareb and Australia’s Rebecca in the first heat to advance directly into the third round while forcing her two rivals to take a trip of the relegation Round 2.
The second heat saw Wright triumph over Hawaii’s Malia Manuel and Brazil’s Jacqueline Silva to jump straight into Round 2 while relegating her competitors to the second round where they were to have another go at earning a place in Round 3.
With clean three-to-four foot waves on offer at the primary event site on the opening day of the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, the ASP Top 17 surfers were expected to put on an epic show for the crowd as they resumed
their campaign for the coveted ASP Women’s World title.
Pitted against Hareb and Woods in the first heat, the 20-year-old Enever put on an impressive performance to finish at the top of the scoreboard once the dust settled. Halfway through the heat, she locked her first business-wave to post a 6.00 on the scoreboard
and went on to back it up with an impressive 9.00-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 15.00 points. The score remained unbeatable until the end to see her through into the third round.
“I didn’t set the bar too high last year at this event so I suppose it was easy to best that result,” Enever said during her post-heat interview. “It’s a new year though and my goals have changed. I started the season out with a Runner-Up finish on the Gold
Coast and I’m focusing on putting in a really solid year. It’s great to be back at Bells. It’s a lot warmer than it usually is, but we have fantastic waves and it’s very beautiful down here.”
Hareb got off to a solid start, scoring an 8.00 off her first business-wave, but failed to add another good score to her account. Scoring a 4.83 off her second business-wave, she finished with a heat-total of 12.83 points.
Wood rounded out the third position with a heat-total of 9.67 points, which comprised of a 6.67 and 3.00-point wave.
The second heat featured an impressive performance by the 2011 ASP Women’s Rookie of the Year, Wright, as she took down Manuel and Silva to confirm her place in the third round.
The young Australian sensation went down to business in the opening minutes of the heat, scoring a 7.00 off her first business-wave and went on to back it up with a 5.77-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 12.77 points.
Manuel collected a 7.17 and 4.40 off her best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 11.57 points, while Silva finished third with a heat-total of 9.60 points, which included a 4.83 and 4.77-point wave. Both the surfers were consequently relegated to the
second round.
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