Malia Manuel emerges triumphant in round two of Estoril Surf & Music Billabong Girls Pro
Hawaii’s Malia Manuel managed to shine the brightest in the fifth heat of Estoril Surf & Music Billabong Girls Pro’s second round that was held on Friday, June 10th, at the beach-break of Praia do Guincho in Estoril, Portugal.
With two-to-three foot tides and strong winds prevailing at the primary event site, it proved quite challenging for the female surfers to surf the waves. Not only did the wave lack the juice that would allow the ladies to throw off technical tricks, the
offshore winds led to a real struggle to remain in control, something that only a few surfers had accomplished successfully since the event kicked off.
Undaunted by the demanding conditions, the Hawaiian surfer Manuel went on a rampage on the very first wave that she caught, throwing down a combination of spectacular manoeuvres to open her account with 8.25 points. She immediately followed it up with another
decent wave, earning 5.85 points this time to finish with a heat-total of 14.10 points.
As it turned out, none of her competitors was able to best this score, which eventually allowed her to clinch victory and secure a place in the next stage of the competition, the round of 24.
America’s Erica Hosseini put up a commendable fight, searching feverishly for a good wave in order to post a decent score. Her efforts were finally rewarded in the middle stages of the heat, when she finally scored 5.75 off a wave and then followed it up
with a 6.20-point wave, to finish with a two-wave total of 11.95 points. Though she missed out on victory by 2.15 points, she still managed to wrap her fingers around the second place, consequently qualifying for the next round of the event.
New Zealand’s Paige Hareb finished in third position after scoring 9.10 points off her two waves. She along with France’s Amandine Sanchez, who finished fourth with 6.65 points off her two best waves, is no longer in contention for the event title.
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star event is the second of four events on ASP Women’s European tour.
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