Sally Fitzgibbons makes amends in Round 2 of Billabong Women’s Rio Pro after Round 1 slip
Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons advanced through into the third round of the Billabong Women’s Rio Pro, the fifth of seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, after claiming top honours in the fourth heat of Round
2 that went down at the secondary event site of Arpoador in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, May 10.
She took the win over Brazil’s Jacqueline Silva to extend her life in the event, while the latter was forced to exit the competition field due to her second consecutive loss.
“Conditions today are a little bit tricky, but everyone’s on the same boat,” Fitzgibbons said. “It’s tough when you get hard conditions like we have this week, but the weather’s nice and there are people down here supporting me all the way down here in Brazil.
I just hope there is a little pulse in the next round.”
The second day of the latest women’s elite tour event was expected to deliver a heavy dose of enthralling action despite the conditions being nothing short of challenging. The one-to-three foot waves put the experience and skills of the elite female surfers
to test during their hunt of a couple of decent scores which could ensure their survival in the contention for the event title.
Fitzgibbons, 2011 ASP Women’s World Runner-Up and current No.2 on the ASP Women’s World Title rankings, had failed to get off to an ideal start on day 1 of the competition, surprisingly getting relegated to the elimination round. However, there was hardly
anyone who doubted the 21-year-old’s capability of comfortably bouncing back.
Pitted against Silva in the fourth heat of Round 2, Fitzgibbons got off to a slow start, careful not to waste her energy on small waves that kept appearing during the early stages of the heat. She eventually got hold of a relatively promising wave that appeared
halfway through the heat to unload a string of impressive manoeuvres, consequently earning a 7.33 for the effort. In the dying minutes of the battle, she added another 5.27 points to her account to move to a heat-total of 12.60 points.
The 23-year-old Silva failed to adjust to the inconsistent conditions during the heat. As a result, he was only able to get hold of a 4.00 and 1.30-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 5.30 points. Her lacklustre performance resulted in a comprehensive
victory for Fitzgibbons, taking her through into the next round.
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