Victory over Malia Manuel carries Laura Enever into the Billabong Women’s Rio Pro Quarter-finals
Australia’s Laura Enever successfully managed to reach the Quarter-final stage of the Billabong Women’s Rio Pro, the fifth of seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, after putting on an impressive performance
claim top honours in the fourth heat of Round 4 that went down at the primary event site of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday, May 12.
Enever got her spot in the Quarter-finals confirmed by getting the better of Hawaii’s Malia Manuel, consequently bringing the competition to a premature end for the latter.
The fourth day of the latest women’s elite tour event did not have the best of luck as far as the surfing conditions were concerned. While the shift to the alternative event venue of Arpoador had allowed the surfers to compete in promising two-to-three foot
waves, the return to the primary event site caused the heats to take place in tricky one-to-two foot waves with very few potential scoring opportunities. The surfers looked more desperate than commanding during the course of their battles as they sought to
ensure their survival in the contention for the event title.
The fourth heat of Round 4 saw Enever taking on Manuel in a battle for the Quarter-final spot. Both the surfers had been nothing short of impressive on the first and second day of the competition, but seemed to have lost their rhythm a bit on Saturday morning.
Looking to make the most of their final opportunity to get into the next stage of the competition, they braced themselves to give their 100 percent during their Round 4 clash.
As the heat got underway, Enever opened her account with a 6.50-point ride to grab an early lead and after a while backed it up with a 6.60-point wave to get to a heat-total of 13.10 points.
Manuel struggled to adjust to the surfing conditions prevailing at Barra da Tijuca and only managed to score a 4.50 off her first business-wave. After a persistent search, she posted a 5.10 on the score-board to move to a heat-total of 9.60 points. The inadequate
score led to her elimination from the competition while sending Enever into the Quarter-finals.
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