Paige Hareb triumphs over Stephanie Gilmore in Round 1 of Roxy Pro
New Zealand’s Paige Hareb overcame Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore and Claire Bevilacqua in the fifth heat of Roxy Pro’s Round 1 that went down at the revised event site, La Grande Plage, in Biarritz, South Africa, on Thursday morning, July 14th.
Emerging triumphant in the three-woman battle allowed the 21-year-old New Zealander to advance directly to the third round, while Gilmore and Bevilacqua, who finished second and third respectively, headed to Round 2 to fight for survival.
The three-to-four foot waves prevailing at the event site allowed the first round of the event to resume under pretty decent conditions. The waves lacked juice, but were definitely better than the waves in which the first heats took place on the first day
of the competition.
Four-time and reigning Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s Surfing Champion, Gilmore was undoubtedly the favourite for the heat. Currently ASP No. 4, she had shown a pretty consistent performance during the season and was definitely looking
forward to getting to a good start in Biarritz.
As the fifth heat kicked off, the 23-year-old Australian drew first blood, catching a wave to score 4.67 off it to move into the lead. However, Hareb had no intention of letting Gilmore have an easy time during the heat and almost halfway through the heat,
locked a wave to throw down a string of tricks, earning 6.50 for the effort to steal the lead. A few minutes later, she added another 5.77 points to her account to move to a heat total of 12.27 points.
Gilmore needed a 7.40 off her second wave to move back to the top position. However, she failed to get the required scored and only managed a 4.87, moving to a heat-total of 9.54 points and surrendering victory to her New Zealander rival.
Bevilacqua looked out of rhythm during the heat and only managed to collect a 2.83 and 2.77 off her two best waves. Consequently, she had to settle for the last position, though both she and Gilmore shared the same fate as far as advancing to the next round
was concerned.
This was exactly the start to the latest ASP Women’s World Tour that Hareb was hoping for. Downing someone like Gilmore would definitely fill her with confidence as she moves into the third round of the competition.
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