Sally Fitzgibbons lands first ASP victory in Bells Beach

Big shout out to Sally Fitzgibbons, who just bagged her very first ASP title after what seemed like millions and millions of runner ups!

In some of the best conditions the ASP event has ever seen, the Australian defeated current with current ASP Women’s World No. 1 Carissa Moore from Hawaii. Despite outshining her competitors and fellow ASP Top 17 members at Bells Beach with incredible high scores from the opening round of competition, she was more than stoked to win: “This is so overwhelming! It’s been a long journey for me to finally win and this is incredible. I can’t feel my arms or legs and I’m just trying to keep from crying right now. It’s been a really long time coming and I want to thank all the girls for pushing me as well as all my family and friends who have supported me over the years.”

But besides being her maiden victory and putting her in ASP Women’s World No. 2, winning the 50th anniversary of this event in her homelands, surrounded by her heroes and sporting icons, made it even more special.

Carissa remains in the driver’s seat in this year’s hunt for the ASP Women’s World Title though, as she was only beaten by Sally in the final and will make sure to cement her pole position at next week’s event in New Zealand.

Reigning four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) couldn’t get past Sally either this week when they clashed in the semifinals and ended up in 3rd place.

The next stop on the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title season will be the Subaru Pro TSB Bank Women’s Surf Festival in Taranaki, New Zealand from April 27 – May 1, 2011.

Watch the highlights on live.ripcurl.com and go to aspworldtour.com for more info