The Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic wraps the first day with round three
The first day action of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic continued with the third round commencing on Monday, May 2 at the Dee Why Point in New South Wales, Australia.
The fourth stop of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, scheduled for this year, promised the highest level of surfing with the field comprising of surfing heavy-weights. With a huge prize purse and coveted ranking points on
offer, all the ladies were determined to really let loose at Dee Why Point to make a huge impact in the event.
While the first and second round of the competition delivered an exciting contest on Monday morning, the afternoon saw four heats of intense triple-threat battles between the exciting athletes in the third round.
The first heat of the final round of the day pitted Brazil’s Silvana Lima against Hawaii’s Coco Ho and the young-gun from Australia, Nikki Van Dijk. While Dijk had come on strongly in the initial round, triumphing over her compatriot and the favourite to
win the event, Sally Fitzgibbons, she failed to maintain her glory in the third round. Instead, it was Lima who bested both Ho and Dijk to secure a place in the quarter-final. The Brazilian earned a score of 16.25 against the Hawaiian’s 13.50 and Australian’s
disappointing 5.30.
In the second heat, Fitzgibbons faced America’s Courtney Conlogue and Peru’s Mulanovich. After a hiccup in the first round of the event, the Australian managed to find her rhythm and dominate her rival in the second round. She continued to assert her dominance
in the third round, besting Conlogue and Mulanovich with a score of 16.15 against her 8.55 and 6.40 respectively.
In the third heat, Hawaii’s Carissa Moore faced New Zealand’s Paige Hareb and Australia’s Chelsea Hedges for the coveted place in the quarter-final. Posting a near perfect score of 19.25, she walked away with a comfortable victory over Hareb and Hedges,
who scored 12.55 and 9.00 respectively.
In the final heat of the day, the reigning four-time ASP Women Champion, Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore, had an intense battle with her compatriot, Tyler Wright, and Hawaii’s Melanie Bartels. An ASP rookie, Wright put up an impressive fight and Bartels was
not too shabby herself, but Gilmore proved too much for them to handle. Earning a score of 17.85, Gilmore progressed to the quarter-final stage, beating Wright’s 16.00 and Bartel’s 14.50.
The second and third place finishers will be facing each other in the fourth round to find a place next to the winners of the third round in the quarter finals, while the surfers who fail to put up a good fight will be reaching the end of the road.
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