Stephanie Gilmore wins Round 3 to advance to Roxy Pro France 2011 quarterfinals
The fourth heat of Roxy Pro’s Round 3 went down at the backup event site, La Grande Plage in Biarritz, South Africa, on Thursday, July 14.
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore came up with an impressive performance during the final heat of Round 3 to triumph over her compatriot Laura Enever, as well as Hawaii’s Coco Ho, advancing directly to the quarter-finals. Ho and Enever finished in second and
third place respectively and were relegated to the fourth round.
The current Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour season was not turning to be good for Gilmore, a four-time and reigning ASP World Champion. She was yet to register a win, though she had come close to getting one on several occasions.
The 23-year-old New South Wales-resident had made her way to the third round after getting off to a relatively disappointing start in the current ASP Women’s World Tour event, losing to New Zealand’s Paige Hareb in the first round and getting relegated to
Round 2. However, she made a strong comeback in her next heat to earn a place in Round 3.
Pitted against Hawaii’s Ho and her own compatriot Enever in her third round heat, the reigning ASP World Champion got off to a good start. She caught a wave in the opening minutes of the battle to ride it for 6.50 points and move into the lead.
A few minutes later, she locked another wave and this time unleashed a string of spectacular manoeuvres to send the crowd in awe. The judges were compelled to give her an 8.50 for the outstanding effort, moving her to a heat-total of 15.00. The score remained
unbeatable till the end and consequently allowed her to claim the quarter-final spot.
During her post-heat interview, Gilmore said, “It was like surfing in a wave pool today, with the buildings around and the waves coming-in were super fun. I am enjoying my time and having a lot of fun surfing in the event. Obviously there is no pressure
and I'll keep going like that, enjoying.”
Ho had just made her way out of a sudden-death Round 2 to find herself lose the quarter-final place to Gilmore and move to yet another sudden-death round, Round 4. She put up a commendable fight during the heat to keep her intimidating rival from walking
away with top honours, collecting a 5.27 and 6.77 off her two best waves, but the decisive 8.50 by Gilmore put all her efforts to waste.
Enever remained the weakest performer during the Round 3 battle, finishing with a heat-total of 9.36 points, which comprised of a 4.23 and 5.13-point wave. However, all was not lost for the 19-year-old Australian as she still has an opportunity to stay alive
in the competition if she manages to come up with a good performance in Round 4.
The fourth day of the event wrapped up with the conclusion of the fourth heat of Round 3. The Roxy Pro action is scheduled to kick off with the Round 4 heats on Friday, July 15th.
For updates on Round 4 of Roxy Pro France 2011, stay tuned to bettor.com
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