Stephanie Gilmore downed Courtney Conlogue to reach the Semi-finals at Roxy Pro Gold Coast
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore barely managed to defeat America’s Courtney Conlogue in the fourth Quarter-final of Roxy Pro Gold Coast that went down at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday, February 28.
The victory served to add her to what turned out to be an all-Australian Semi-final while removing Conlogue from the contention for the event title.
The four-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Champion Gilmore had failed to bring out her best in the previous season of the elite tour, but she seemed determined to make up for 2011 this year.
Since the very first day of the opening event of 2012 ASP Women’s World Tour, the 24-year-old Australian was showing off some brilliant surfing, taking down opponent after opponent to steadily make her way through the rounds to eventually reach the Quarter-finals.
Pitted against Gilmore in the Quarter-finals was Conlogue. The Californian surfer had shown a formidable form over the last few days at Snapper Rocks, though it was hard to say if she had what was needed to down Gilmore.
As the competition got underway, Gilmore got down to business right away, searching feverishly for a juicy wave. She eventually detected a relatively promising tide approaching and attacked it to pull off a series of exquisite manoeuvres, earning 8.50 points
for the effort.
However, Conlogue had no intention of letting the status or current form of her rival intimidate her. She managed to offer a decent response to Gilmore’s first-wave score with a 7.60-point of her own, keeping the battle for the Semi-final spot very much
alive. As the heat progressed, the American surfer added an additional 8.70 points to her account, taking her heat-total to 16.30 points.
Finding herself behind Conlogue on the score-board as the heat got closer to the buzzer, Gilmore found herself under a lot of pressure. She still managed to keep her cool and remained on a look-out for an opportunity to score big. In the dying minutes of
the heat, she eventually locked a wave to earn an 8.27 off it, moving to a two-wave total of 16.77 points. The last minute effort put her 0.47 points ahead of Conlogue to earn her top honours and a place in the Semi-finals.
In an interview after the intense Semi-final, Gilmore said, “It's getting harder and harder. Especially that heat, there--Courtney was just throwing scores straight back at me. That's what keeps you on your toes. It keeps you nervous right through the last
few seconds and yeah, it was pretty nerve-wracking.”
With the Quarter-finals completed, the event organisers called it a day due to fading light. The next active day of Roxy Pro Gold Coast was going to commence with the Semi-finals and eventually wrap up the event with the Final.
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