Sally Fitzgibbons and Bianca Buitendag step into the Quarter-finals of Hunter Ports Women’s Classic
Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons and South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag confirmed their spots in the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Hunter Ports Women’s Classic Quarter-finals after claiming top honours in their respective Round 4 (Round of
12) heats that went down at Merewether Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Friday, March 16.
America’s Courtney Conlogue and France’s Alizee Arnaud also advanced through into the Quarter-finals due to their runner-up finish, while Australia’s Dimity Stoyle and Argentina’s Ornella Pellizzari got eliminated from the competition after rounding out
the third position in the third and fourth heat respectively.
The two-foot waves on offer at the primary event site during the latest day of the World Qualifying Series (WQS) event gave the world’s best female surfers ample opportunity to exhibit their skills and style as they battled out for a place in the next stage
of the competition.
Fitzgibbons made use of her local knowledge of the waves and utilised her skills to completely dominate her rivals in the third heat. She remained pretty busy throughout the heat, but the highlight of her performance was her first wave, which enabled her
to post a 9.10 on the scoreboard. She soon backed it up with an 8.33-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 17.43 points, which served to seal the fate of the battle in her favour.
“The surf is about the same size as yesterday,” Fitzgibbons said. “But the waves have less power so it’s pretty tough out there. In those three man heats it’s good to get an early lead and leave the other girls to hassle for 2nd. I think the swell is expected
to be a bit bigger tomorrow, so I’m excited for Finals day.”
Conlogue may have succumbed to Fitzgibbons during the heat, but she did well to edge past Stoyle in the final minutes of the heat by posting a couple of scores in the five-point range on the score-board to finish with a heat-total of 11.10 points against
her rival’s two-wave total of 10.30 points.
The final heat of Round 4 featured an impressive performance by Buitendag as she got the better of Arnaud and Pellizzari to advance through into the Quarter-final.
The South African surfer scored a 5.43 off her first business-wave and followed it up with a 7.00-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 12.43 points.
Arnaud managed to go through into the next stage of the event by securing runner-up place with her heat-total of 10.30 points.
Pellizzari got eliminated from the event after scoring a 4.33 and 3.33 off her best-two waves for a heat-total of 7.66 points.
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