The female surfing action arrived at the back-up venue of Kirra in Queensland, Australia, on Thursday, March 7, to trim down the competition field at Roxy Pro Gold Coast, first stop on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World
Championship Tour, to the final four.
The challenging barrels greeted the surfers on the latest day of the competition, as they took each other on in tough quarter-final heats, all equally determined to get themselves through into the semi-finals.
The first quarter-final pitted Australia’s Tyler Wright against America’s Courtney Conlogue. The two surfers had met twice in the competition already, with the Australian sensation prevailing over the American surfer on both the occasions.
The third encounter did not feature a different result either, with Conlogue failing to hold her own against the 18-year-old Wright yet again. She put on a very ordinary performance to register a heat-total of 7.94 points, which Wright bested with a two-wave
total of 13.50 points.
Reigning five-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore continued to display a solid form in the second quarter-final, clinching a comprehensive victory over Hawaii’s Alana Blanchard to make her way through into the semi-final.
She finished with a winning heat-total of 12.97 points, which included a mesmerising 9.80-point ride, against Blanchard’s two-wave total of 5.06 points.
“It’s tricky out there this morning but every now and then, there’s an incredible one so that was a good heat,” Gilmore said. “I always flashback to all the greats out at Kirra and I think Mick (Fanning) was and still is one of the best. I think I was pretending
I was Mick for a moment there in the tube. Just for a moment though.”
Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbon made amendments for an early stumble by prevailing over South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag in the third quarter-final, finishing with a heat-total of 14.20 against her rival’s dismal heat-total of 1.50 points.
Former ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore from Hawaii put on an impressive performance to down France’s Pauline Ado.
Adjusting to the deteriorating conditions nicely, Moore managed to get to a heat-total of 14.00 points. Ado failed to come up with an adequate response and had to settle for a heat-total of 8.37 points, thus surrendering victory to her rival.
Wright will take on an in-form Gilmore in the first semi-final, while Moore will battle it out with Fitzgibbons in the second semi-final when the Roxy Pro Gold Coast resumes.
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