Malia Manuel and Tyler Wright off to a perfect start at Roxy Pro – Surfing News
Hawaii’s Malia Manuel and Australia’s Tyler Wright kicked off the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour with victory in their respective Round 1 heats at Roxy Pro Gold Coast that went down at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia,
on Saturday, February 25.
With her victory in the first heat of the event, Manuel advanced straight into- the third round, while her rivals Silvana Lima from Brazil and Courtney Conlogue from America finished in second and third place respectively, consequently moving to the second
round to battle it out for survival.
Wright confirmed her place in Round 3 as well after clinching top honours in the second heat, forcing the iconic American surfer Lakey Peterson and France’s Pauline Ado to settle for second and third place respectively to send them into the relegation round.
The first of the seven stops on the women’s elite tour saw high-performance three-to-four foot waves breaking at the primary event site, giving the female surfers ample opportunity to showcase their style and tricks.
Competing in her first ASP Women’s World Tour, the 18-year-old Manuel quickly adapted to the pressure and managed to prevail over an experienced Lima and Conlogue to walk away with top honours after scoring a heat-total of 10.24 points, which comprised of
a 5.67 and 4.57-point wave.
Lima finished in second place after earning a 3.10 and 5.63 off her top-two waves, while Conlogue rounded out the third position with a two-wave total of 8.10 points, which included a 3.67 and 4.43-point wave.
The 17-year-old 2011 ASP Women’s World Tour Rookie of the Year, Wright, completely stole the show during the second heat of Round 1 with her outstanding performance. The young Australian sensation had charged towards a wave even before the siren sounded.
However, she quickly recovered from the disappointment and kept searching for big scores to eventually post an 8.40 and 9.30 on the score-board. The resultant heat-total of 17.70 points remained unbeatable until the end to earn her top honours.
“There were some good waves coming through. But the rip is strong so I’m really tired, taking off on that wave before heat started probably added to that. It was a mistake, but when I heard the countdown I thought by the time I got to my feet the heat would
have started. Oh well, it happens – it was a good wave so I’m glad I caught it. I noticed last year that Carissa (Moore) and Sally (Fitzgibbons) were consistent in every comp with their performance and wave selection and that’s what I’m going to try and do
this year,” said Wright after the heat.
Making her return to the ASP World Tour, Peterson finished in second place with a heat-total of 12.26 points, which comprised of a 5.93 and 6.33-point wave.
Ado rounded out the bottom position after finishing with a disappointing heat-total of 7.33 points, which included a 3.10 and 4.23-point wave.
The surfing action continued at Snapper Rocks with the remaining heats of Roxy Pro Gold’s Round 1 on Saturday.
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