Tyler Wright overcomes Carissa Moore to reach Roxy Pro Gold Coast Semi-finals – Surfing News
Australia’s Tyler Wright took down Hawaii’s Carissa Moore in the first Quarter-final of Roxy Pro Gold Coast that went down at the iconic Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday, February 28.
The outstanding win carried Wright into the Semi-finals while putting her rival out of the race for the coveted event title.
The 17-year-old Wright had evidently been in an excellent form since the very first day of the opening event of 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour. The 2011 ASP Women’s World Rookie of the Year had been making waves despite
pitted against the best female surfers from around the globe.
Moore, on the other hand, had not arrived at Gold Coast in the best of forms. All eyes were on the 19-year-old Hawaiian after her outstanding performance during the previous season that had eventually made her the youngest female to lift the ASP World Title.
She was expected to kick-off her title defence in a confident manner.
However, Moore suffered from an inconsistent performance since the very first round of the event. Despite managing to stay alive in the competition and reaching the Quarter-final stage, it was evident that she was struggling. It was difficult to say whether
it was the surfing conditions that were making her uneasy or the pressure due to the high expectations that everyone had of her.
This was not the first time for Wright to be pitted against Moore at Snapper Rocks. The two had met in last year’s Roxy Pro Gold Coast’s Final, which had finished in the Hawaiian’s favour. However, Moore had been exhibiting a more solid form as compared
to one that she had been exhibiting in the recent days, making the latest encounter anyone’s game.
As the battle for the Semi-final spot got underway, the ASP Women’s World Title series sophomore Wright managed to put her rival under pressure by scoring an excellent 9.60 off her first business-wave. Keeping the charge going, she immediately followed it
up with an 8.43-point wave to move to a heat-total of 18.03 points.
Moore failed to find an adequate response to her Australian rival’s onslaught and only managed to score a 7.00 and 6.47 off her best-two waves, consequently finishing in a 4.56-point deficit.
This resulted in one of the best upsets of the competition as the event favourite Moore got eliminated.
“I knew I had to do something big to beat her,” Wright said. “She’s the ASP Women’s World Champ. I think she won three events last year so I knew it was going to be tough. I was lucky enough that I got the good waves. If she got them she would have smashed
me too.”
The remaining three Quarter-finals took place at Snapper Rocks on Tuesday to determine the final-four at Roxy Pro Gold Coast.
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