The female surfers returned to action at Rainbow Bay in Queensland, Australia, on Monday, March 4, with the proceedings resuming with the one-on-one Round 2 battles of Roxy Pro Gold Coast, the first stop on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals
(ASP) Women’s World Championship Tour, before moving to the third and fourth round, eventually determining the complete list of quarter-finalists.
Rainbow Bay offered clean three-to-four foot waves, pretty much ideal conditions for the top female surfing talent to put on an entertaining show.
Australia’s Tyler Wright and America’s Courtney Conlogue successfully bounced back from a Round 1 stumble, registering victories in their respective Round 2 heats to make their way to third round.
Wright bested Conlogue during their Round 3 encounter, but the American surfer successfully evaded elimination yet again by defeating Brazil’s Silvana Lima in her Round 4 heat to join the Australian sensation in the quarter-final field.
Reigning five-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore found pushed hard once again, this time by Hawaii’s Coco Ho. However, the 25-year-old Australian managed to hold her rival off and eventually emerged triumphant to go straight into the quarter-finals.
“No easy heats these days,” Gilmore said. “Feeling very good on the equipment and the waves have been very fun for us to start the year in. Excited to see what the coming days bring and hope I can keep progressing.”
Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons had a bit of a score as she finished below South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag in the third heat of Round 3. As expected, she successfully clinched victory in her Round 4 heat against America’s Lakey Peterson to get into the quarter-finals.
Former ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore was really impressive on the latest day of the competition as well. She put on a superb performance during her Round 3 heat, registering a heat-total of 18.43 points in the process of securing a spot in the
quarter-finals.
“The waves are really fun out there right now,” Moore said. “All the girls on tour rip and you can see it when they’re given the opportunity in good waves. Stoked to move through to the next round in the event and hopefully the waves keep delivering.”
The quarter-finals of Roxy Pro Gold Coast will commence with Conlogue and Wright coming across each other for the third time this event, with the stakes much higher this time.
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