Stephanie Single downs Ellie-Jean Coffey to clinch Vahine Pro Junior victory
Australia’s Stephanie Single took out the Vahine Pro Junior, an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Australasia Pro Junior Series event and an ASP 3-star event, after getting the better of her compatriot Ellie-Jean Coffey in the final that took place
at the Papara in Tahiti on Friday, April 12, 2013.
“I’m really happy right now!” Single said. “I’ve never won one of these before and I was hoping this would be my first win! When I first got here the surf was small and I was worried because I’m not very good in small waves, but as the surf got bigger I
feel like I’ve kept improving. This win is going to give me a big confidence boost as I go off and try to do some ASP World Tour 6-Star events later in the year.”
With three foot waves on offer at the main event site, the stage was set for the two up-and-coming female surfers to put their exquisite skills on display. The crowd in attendance expected to witness an exciting final, since both the girls were apparently
in solid form, something that was apparent from the way they had performed over the last few days.
Coffey found herself pitted against Tahiti’s Mauarii Maro in the first semi-final. The battle turned out to be a low-scoring one, but it was definitely not low on intensity, as both the surfers anxiously waited for a juicy wave to appear.
The battle was, however, won by Coffey as she managed to post a heat-total of 10.90 points against her rival’s 10.85 points.
The second semi-final saw Single take on and take down the local talent Karelle Poppke by posting an impressive heat-total of 15.50 points, thus making her way into the final.
As the two in-form surfers came across each other in the battle for the overall victory, a lot of fireworks were expected off them.
Coffey got off to a confident start and latched on to a juicy opportunity to put on an impressive score on the scoreboard in the early stages of the battle.
She went on to add another impressive score to her account, thus getting to a heat-total of 14.50 points.
Single, however, had no intention of letting her rival walk away with the win and therefore responded with a strong performance.
Expertly navigating her way through the waves, she managed to grab a couple of great scores to eventually register a heat-total of 15.20 points. The score served to keep her in the lead until the end, consequently sealing the fate of the battle in her favour.
Tags: