Sally Fitzgibbons defeats Lakey Peterson to step into Roxy Pro Gold Coast Quarter-finals
Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons managed to overcome America’s Lakey Peterson in the third heat of Roxy Pro Gold Coast’s Round 4 that went down at the renowned Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday, February 28.
The crucial win served to carry Fitzgibbons into the Quarter-finals while removing Peterson from the contention for the event title.
The first stop of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour was turning out to be full of surprises and upsets as the tour veterans were struggling to stay alive in the race for the event title. The new generation of surfers
were turning out to be pretty formidable competitors, making every heat an intense affair full of suspense and top-notch surfing action.
The fourth day of the competition saw two-to-three foot waves along with light on-shore winds prevailing at the primary event site. The conditions had challenged the ASP Top 34 during their battles in the morning and were not making it easy for the girls
to try and earn their place in the next stage of the event.
The 2011 ASP Women’s World Runner-Up Fitzgibbons had surprising succumbed to Hawaii’s Malia Manuel during the third round and not faced a must-win situation in Round 4.
Pitted against her in the battle for survival was Peterson, who had gotten relegated to the fourth round after tasting defeat at the hands of Australia’s four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore.
As the battle for the Quarter-spot got underway, the 17-year-old Peterson rocketed off to a confident start, collecting a 7.50 off her first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat. She soon managed to back it with a spectacular 9.00-point wave
to get to a heat-total of 16.50 points, well set-up to take the win.
However, the 21-year-old Fitzgibbons rose to meet the challenge head on and responded with an excellent performance of her own to steal the show. She unloaded a string of stylish manoeuvres off her first business-wave to post an 8.33 on the score-board and
later managed to add a 9.80 on the score-board, moving to a heat-total of 18.13 points and consequently claiming the Quarter-final spot.
The thrilling surfing action continued at Snapper Rocks with the remaining heats of Roxy Pro Gold Coast’s Round 4.
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