Malia Manuel eliminates Stephanie Gilmore from the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic
In one of the biggest upsets of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic, Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore bowed out to Hawaii’s Malia Manuel in the 2nd Quarter-final that went down at the Dee Why point in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, April 21.
The result of the heat came as a huge surprise and disappointment for the crowd who were eager to watch the four-time Association of surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Champion go through into the next stage of the fourth of seventh stops on the 2012
ASP Women’s World Tour.
The surfing conditions at Dee Why point was proving to be quite a challenge for the prestigious female surfers as they battled out to progress further in the event. They had to deal with clean yet demanding two-to-three foot waves that were on offer at the
primary event site on Saturday morning.
The 24-year-old Gilmore had established herself as the strongest contender for the coveted ASP Women’s World Title since the very first stop of the season and continued her formidable form at the events that followed. She continued to exhibit an intimidating
form at Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic, comfortably making her way through the initial rounds of the event, though she succumbed to Manuel during the Round 3 clash. However, that did not prove to be too costly as she bounced back strongly in Round 4 to
move into the Quarter-finals.
Coming across Manuel once again and this time with the sword of elimination hanging over her head, Gilmore found herself under slight pressure.
As the second Quarter-final got underway, Manuel capitalised on her psychological advantage over her rival, collecting a couple of six-point rides to get to a heat-total of 13.00 points.
Gilmore responded by scoring a 4.67 off her first business-wave and went on to add an additional 6.80 points to her account. Failing to improve her score further, the Australian surfer was forced to settle for a heat-total of 11.47 points and thus conceded
the Semi-final slot to Manuel.
“It’s disappointing,” Gilmore said after the heat. “But it’s not a terrible result for me. I feel really strong. When there’s great waves on offer I feel like I’m surfing great. It’s just a matter of getting those waves and I didn’t get them today. I’m looking
forward to heading over to Brazil and finding the form I had in the first few events.”
The thrilling surfing action continued at Dee Why pointing with the remaining Quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic.
Tags: