Hawaiian Carissa Moore, the 17 years old tour rookie, bagged the Women’s Surf Festival in New Zealand over Australian Sally Fitzgibbons.
In the final of the third stop of the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour at Fitzroy Beach Carissa wasted no time and posted excellent marks in the pumping offshore barrels.
“The conditions definitely turned on for us this afternoon and I knew I couldn’t leave Sally (Fitzgibbons) a lot of room to maneuver,” Moore said. “She has been getting the highest scores every round and she’s so dangerous. I just felt like I was building momentum throughout the event and fortunately peaked in the Final.”
After a relatively slow, this win has bumped her up to World No. 6 and gave her good grounds to be a threat to the World Title this year. But she didn’t only show great surfing skills this weekend, she also showed a great heart and donated her US$15,000 prize money to the local Waitara Bar Boardriders Club. “I fell in love with New Zealand and I’m fortunate enough to have great support from my family and my sponsors and that puts me in a position to do things like this,” Moore said. “The Haka that the Waitara Bar Boardriders Club performed before the event was beautiful and they’ve really opened up their community and waves to us. For this, I am very thankful.”
Despite Moore’s domineering start to the Final, Sally Fitzgibbons fought back admirably collecting a 7.50 and an 8.67, but it would not be enough to overtake Moore. “It’s frustrating but Carissa (Moore) just went mad in the Final,” Fitzgibbons said. “The waves were really good, and it was an exciting heat. I’m disappointed to not get the win, but it’s still a good result for me.”
Today’s Runner-Up finish matches Fitzgibbons’ career best and moves her from 5th to 2nd on the ASP Women’s World Tour rankings, positioning her for a run at the prestigious ASP Women’s World Title throughout the remainder of the year.
The next stop on the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour will be the Commonwealth Back Beachley Classic held at Dee Why Point in Sydney, Australia from April 21 through 26, 2010.
TSB BANK WOMEN’S SURF FESTIVAL FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 19.16
2 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.17
TSB BANK WOMEN’S SURF FESTIVAL SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.56 def. Sarah Mason (NZL) 11.33
SF 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 15.93 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 15.17
TSB BANK WOMEN’S SURF FESTIVAL QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.17 def. Melanie Bartels (HAW) 8.33
QF 2: Sarah Mason (NZL) 16.23 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 11.83
QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 18.33 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 11.00
QF 4: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 14.67 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 13.30
CURRENT ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR TOP 5:
1. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 2760 pts
2. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 2280 pts
3. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 2268 pts
4. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 2076 pts
4. Melanie Bartels (HAW) 2076 pts
6. Carissa Moore (HAW) 1920
7. Coco Ho (HAW) 1668
8. Silvana Lima (BRA) 1656
9. Rebecca Woods (AUS) 1464
10. Paige Hareb (NZL) 1272
11. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 1080
11. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 1080
11. Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 1080
14. Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 900
14. Amee Donohoe (AUS) 900
16. Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 720
16. Nikita Robb (ZAF) 720
