The second stop of the 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour kicked off at Margaret River in Australia last week, with reigning World Champ and our former cover star Steph Gilmore dominating the first rounds.

Steph unleashed multiple powerful turns and hooks in the pocket of the wave and was rewarded with two scores in the 9-point-plus-range, finishing the heat with the highest two-wave heat-total of the event thus far – 18.87 out of a possible 20.

“I really enjoy the rights at Margies when it’s this size,” Gilmore said. “It felt nice to get back in the groove of things. Losing to Felicity (Palmateer) in Round 1 wasn’t great, but she’s the local girls and she will be the one to watch at this event. It builds my confidence to get a couple 9s, but I’ll have to keep improving at this event if I want to do well, Margaret River is a challenging wave. I love Western Australia, the food, the wine and the coastline is stunning.”

Results from Round 2:

HEAT 1: Alana Blanchard (HAW) 12.00 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 9.73
HEAT 2: Paige Hareb (NZL) 11.23 def. Malia Manuel (HAW) 10.17
HEAT 3: Steph Gilmore (AUS) 18.87 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 12.50
HEAT 4: Lakey Peterson (USA) 13.34 def. Rebecca Woods (AUS) 9.87
HEAT 5: Coco Ho (HAW) 10.27 def. Sage Erickson (USA) 9.00
HEAT 6: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 14.67 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 10.67