Lee Ann Curren triumphs over Carissa Moore and Melanie Bartels in Round 1 of Roxy Pro France 2011
The sixth of seven stops on Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, Roxy Pro continued to deliver intense surfing action in the third heat of no-elimination Round 1 at Cote des Basques in Biarritz, France, on Tuesday, July 12.
Much to the joy of the local crowd, France’s Lee Ann Curren caused the day’s biggest upset by prevailing over current ASP Women’s World No.1 from Hawaii, Carissa Moore, and her compatriot Melanie Bartels, to advance through to the third round directly. Moore
finished in runner-up place, while Bartels rounded out the third position. Both surfers will compete in Round 2 of the event for a place in Round 3.
Once again, mother-nature refused to cooperate with the World Tour event and low tides with two-to-three foot waves prevailed at the event site, presenting the surfers with a tough challenge. The conditions also came as a real disappointment for the fans
who were hoping to see some of the best female surfers of the world unleash their most prized manoeuvres during their battles for survival.
As the heat kicked off, 18-year-old Moore built up speed and caught a wave to pull off a 360, earning 4.50 points for the effort and getting an early lead to put her opponents under pressure.
Roxy Pro wildcard entry and former ASP Elite member, Curren, who had quite often surfed at this site with her father when growing up, not only carried an advantage of being familiar with the waves, but also enjoyed the support of the local crowd. Putting
her local knowledge of the waves to use, she locked a wave and scored 4.80 points off it to steal the lead from Moore.
Soon, the 21-year-old Frenchwoman added an additional 3.95 to her score and moved to a heat-total of 8.75 points. Moore needed a 4.26 off her second wave to clinch the lead, but only managed to score 3.45 instead and ended up short of the heat-win by 0.80
points. Curren moved directly into the third round as a result of this win.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, the French surfer said, “I am super happy to make that heat and go straight to Round 3. I have surfed here since I was a kid and it feels so good to be able to compete in an ASP World title event in front of all my family
and friends. Being a wildcard is pretty cool because there's no pressure but I still want to do well and both Carissa and Melanie are of great inspiration for me so I wanted to perform as good as I could today and it worked out well.”
The 29-year-old Bartels seemed completely out of rhythm and hardly made any impact during the heat, making it look more like a one-on-one battle between Curren and Moore rather than a three-women battle. She only managed to catch two waves during the 30-minute
heat and finished with a heat-total of mere 1.75 points, which comprised of a 1.15 and 0.60-point wave.
Both Moore and Bartels will have to compete in the second round of the tournament in order to find a place in Round 3, where the winners of Round 1 will be waiting for them.
The deteriorating surfing conditions at the main event site forced the organisers to call it a day, with the rest of the heats getting rescheduled to the second day of the event. The competition is expected to resume on Wednesday with heat four, five and
six of Round 1.
For updates on the Round 1 of Roxy Pro France 2011, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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