Malia Manuel and Stephanie Gilmore advance to Quarter-finals at Roxy Pro Gold Coast – Surfing News
Hawaii’s Malia Manuel and Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore advance through into the Quarter-finals at 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour’s first stop, Roxy Pro Gold Coast, which went down at the iconic Snapper Rocks in Queensland,
Australia, on Monday, February 27.
The world’s best female surfers were determined to get off to a great start at the first of seven stops on the latest season of women’s elite tour. The winners of Round 1 and survivors of the second round came across each other once again to battle it out
for a place in the Quarter-finals. While there was no pressure of elimination, the surfers were still determined to collect the win to stay clear of the fourth round.
The third heat of Round 3 pitted Manuel against Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons and America’s Courtney Conlogue.
The 2011 ASP Women’s World Runner-Up Fitzgibbons was the heat-favourite, but it was Manuel who eventually walked away with the win after scoring a heat-total of 14.53 points.
Fitzgibbons was forced to settle for second place with a heat-total of 12.90 points, while Conlogue rounded out the bottom position with a two-wave total of 10.64 points.
The fourth heat pitted the 24-year-old 4-times ASP Women’s World Champion Gilmore against Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich and America’s Lakey Peterson.
The formidable Australian surfer completely stole the show with her outstanding performance, sending out a clear message about her intentions this season. Finishing with a heat-total of 16.73 points, courtesy of the heat’s best waves, perfect carves and
turns, to walk away with top honours.
“That Round 3 when no-one loses is pretty relaxed, but skipping Round 4 is also on everyone’s minds,” Gilmore said. “It’s hard out there performance wise because there’s not a lot of waves with sections on offer. I didn’t watch too many heats before mine,
but saw Laura [Enever] get a couple of good ones. She looks like she’s got something to prove, she’s so radical with her hair flicks and tail slides, it definitely fired me up to go out and put on a show too.”
Mulanovich finished in second place with a two-wave total of 11.27 points, while Peterson rounded out the third position with 6.04 points. The two surfers still had an opportunity to clinch a spot in the Quarter-finals by making a come-back in the fourth
round.
With the conclusion of the fourth heat, the third round and third day of Roxy Pro Gold Coast wrapped up for the day.
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