Round 1 success over Sally Fitzgibbon takes Rebecca Wood to Round 3 of Billabong Rio Pro
Australia’s Rebecca Wood barely managed to jump straight into the third round of the Billabong Rio Pro, the fifth of seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Title Series, after prevailing in a real intense fourth
heat of Round 1 that took place at the back-up event site of Arpoador in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 9.
Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons finished in second place, while Hawaii’s Melanie Bartels rounded out the third position. Both the surfers were consequently relegated to the second round, needing a win to stay alive in contention for the event title.
The clean two-to-four foot waves breaking at the secondary event site of Arpoador promised to deliver a heavy dose of thrilling surfing action during the first round of women’s division at the Billabong Rio Pro. The main site of Barra da Tijuca did not satisfy
the event organisers, who were looking to kick-off the event in juicy waves. Men’s Round 1 was assisted by the shift from the main site to the secondary site and the same amount of excitement was expected off women’s Round 1 due to the promising surfing conditions.
Fitzgibbons, 2011 ASP Women’s World Runner-Up and current No.2 on the ASP Women’s World Title Rankings, was hands down the favourite to win the heat, but her compatriot Woods had other plans.
The 27-year-old Woods caused the second biggest upsets of the day by relegating Fitzgibbons to Round 2. Searching for a potential scoring opportunity in what was turning out to be a wave-starved heat did not turn out to be an easy thing to do, but Woods
managed to collect a 6.67 and 7.50-point ride to get to a heat-total of 14.17 points.
Fitzgibbons put up a determined hunt of her own to try and overtake her rival on the score-board. Scoring a 7.10 off her first business-wave, she moved into the lead for a while, but an addition of 6.97 to her account when she needed another score in the
seven-point range served to push her to second place and eventually into the relegation round.
Bartels finished in third place following a lacklustre performance for a heat-total of 6.67 points, which included a 5.67 and 1.00-point wave. She too had an opportunity of extending her life in the event through a successful result in her Round 2 heat.
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