Surfing in New York? Dam right!! Check out this Roxy interview with Sally Fitzgibbons in at the recent men’s ASP event…

ROXY PRO BIARRITZ KICKS OFF HERE IN SOUTH-WEST FRANCE!!

The Roxy Pro got underway in two-to-three foot (0.6 to 1 meter) waves in Biarritz today, the famous Cote des Basques beach allowing three heats of Round 1 to wrap-up through the incoming morning tide before the deteriorating conditions forced things to go on-hold and eventually get postponed until tomorrow’s 8:00 AM call.

Second-to-last event on this year’s ASP Women’s World title hunt, today’s no-elimination round saw top seeds ignite and capture the crowds’ attention with high-level surfing in fast-changing condtions. Day 1 of competition was the stage to a series of close heats with the field of international top athletes focusing on wave selection and both left and righthand options to secure a direct jump to Round 3.

Causing the day’s surprise and advancing straight to Round 3 ahead of current ASP Women’s World No. 1 Carissa Moore (Oahu, HAW), Roxy wildcard and former ASP Elite member Lee-Ann Curren (Biarritz, FRA) managed to make the most out of the tricky surf to win her bout and please fans and home crowds.

« I am super happy to make that heat and go straight to Round 3, » Curren said. « I have surfed here since I was a kid and it feels so good to be able to compete in an ASP World title event in front of all my family and friends. Being a wildcard is pretty cool because there’s no pressure but I still want to do well and both Carissa and Melanie are of great inspiration for me so I wanted to perform as good as I could today and it worked out well. »

Curren, with her Round 1 win, added intensity to the ASP Women’s World title race, Moore’s second place forcing her to surf in the second round where a loss would push the world title crowning to the final event next month in California.

« I am not thinking of any consequence on the world title race between Sally (Fitzgibbons) and Carissa, » Curren said. « I am focused on doing well here, I am friends with both girls and I’ll just be surfing my best to get a result in the event. It is my priority. »

Netting the day’s highest heat result in the last minutes of her bout against rookie local-raised Pauline Ado (FRA) with 12.15 points (out of a possible 20), longtime ASP Women’s elite surfer Silvana Lima (Rio, BRA) prooved to be in good form unleashing speedy vertical turns on the righthanders to advance through to Round 3.

« I started really slow and Pauline (Ado) was in great form so I knew I had to give it my all to make that heat, » Lima said. « I am feeling great and that board I chose at the last moment worked really well so all is looking good. My knee hurts a little but it’s alright and I am stoked to be in Round 3. »

It took Lima a series of three on-the-rail top turns and full-speed on a walling-up righthander to overcome local Ado who had led the battle since the opening seconds, the multi ASP European champion notching the day’s top signle wave score of 7.50 points (out of a possible 10) but missing the heat win by a mere 0.15 points.

When Round 1 recommences, first out will be other ASP Women’s World title contender Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) up against rookie Laura Enever (AUS) and ASP replacement surfer Felicity Palmateer (AUS). Officials will reconvene Wednesday at 8:00 AM at the back-up venue of La Grande Plage downtown Biarritz.

The Roxy Pro could see the ASP Women’s World title crowning this week as Carissa Moore (HAW) and Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) are the only two remaining contenders. The possibilities are as follows :

- If Moore wins the event in France, she clinches the ASP Women’s World Title

- If Moore places 2^nd or 3rd in France, Fitzgibbons must win to keep world title hopes

- If Moore places 5th in France, Fitzgibbons needs to place 2^nd or win

- If Moore places 9^th in France, the ASP Women’s World title race goes to the US Open, this year’s final event

This morning, the qualification for the last wildcard to join the ASP Women’s World Longboard Event has been taken by Australian surfer Chelsea Williams. The 2008 runner up will compete in the Longboard main event from Thursday.

ROXY PRO ROUND 1 RESULTS

Heat 1 : Courtney Conlogue (USA) 10.90, Tyler Wright (AUS) 9.95, Rebecca Woods (AUS) 8.15

Heat 2 : Silvana Lima (BRA) 12.15, Pauline Ado (FRA) 12.00, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 9.35

Heat 3 : Lee-Ann Curren (FRA) 8.75, Carissa Moore (HAW) 7.95, Melanie Bartels (HAW) 1.75

ROXY PRO ROUND 1 REMAINING HEATS

Heat 4 : Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Laura Enever (AUS), Felicity Palmateer (AUS)

Heat 5 : Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL), Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)

Heat 6 : Coco Ho (HAW), Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)

ROXY PRO in live on www.roxylive.com

SWATCH GIRLS PRO

We headed on down to the Swatch Girls Pro finals today in Seignosse les Bourdaines, witnessing the best in women’s surfing under a hot sun and with awesome waves. Sally Fitzgibbons ripped the surf apart to take the title after a nail biting semi final in which she made it through in the dying seconds with the highest scoring wave of the contest so far.

The set waves were solid at Bourdaines, providing the perfect playground for the girls to show just how much they are advancing the sport. Pressure is on for when the girls return to France in July for the Roxy Pro… and we can’t wait!!

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

Hawaii’s Coco Ho Wins Pacific Coast Pro

MEREWETHER BEACH/Newcastle/Australia (Saturday, March 19, 2011) - Hawaii’s Coco Ho, 19, has won the Association of Surfing Professionals ASP) 6 Star Women’s Legendary Pacific Coast Pro in association with Commonwealth Bank held in excellent 1.5m (4 to 5 feet) surf at Merewether Beach today.

The 19 year-old Hawaiian took control in the final early when she opened with a strong scoring 7.33 ride which was the finals top scoring and decisive winning ride.

Final scores for their top two scoring rides saw Coco Ho on 11.83 to Courtney Conlogue on 10.00.

“Fantastic to win here and the waves have been awesome for the girls– a six star event is really important to all of us and it feels like we’ve been treated to the best conditions all week” said Ho after her win.

“I focused on trying to select a good wave early – the waves shift about out there and you need to be selective – the strategy worked as my first wave was easily my best and I think that won the final for me.”

“It’s a good start the year for me – 5th on the Gold Coast was OK and winning here is a bonus – I’ll go back to Hawaii now and really freshen up before I return for Bells – I’ll go home feeling good after today’s win!”

Ho surfed great all day and took out current world number two ranked surfer Sally Fitzgibbons in the semi finals earlier today.

Conlogue (18 years/California/Santa Ana) was also in spectacular form today – her quarter final heat win over Australian young gun Tyler Wright included an almost perfect 9.97 ride, the events highest scoring ride to date.

“I’ve had a great day, could have been better in the final but I didn’t quite get the waves needed to win but overall I’m feeling great – It’s been an enjoyable event and the waves have been good to us!”

The Burton Toyota Pro Men’s number one seed Taj Burrow put on a display for the large Newcastle crowd who are turned out to see the current world number 2 ranked surfer in action.

Burrow flared with some of his typically critical above the lip turns along with his fast and super fluid style to easily dispose of Indonesia’s top ranked surfer Dede Suryana.

“I felt great out there, the waves are really good providing you chose the right wave – I can’t remember surfing Merewether before – I think I have once but it was a long time ago and it felt really good out there” said Burrow.

Burrow’s final turn in the heat was so committed it snapped his board in two and with seven minutes remaining he had established such a lead he elected not to paddle back out and left Suryana in the line-up along chasing a 9.33 to try and beat him.

“My boards feel great at the moment – that board that snapped was the one I won the Breaka Pro on at Burleigh – my back up board here is the one I finished second to Slater on at the Quiksilver Pro – that’s a special board that I’m sort of saving for Bells – it’s wrapped in cotton wool and I don’t want to ride it just yet so I’ll source a few back up boards over night for tomorrow’s finals here.”

In tomorrow’s round of 16 Taj will face exciting Gold Coast youngster Thomas Woods who earlier today shut down the last of the local hopes in Jake Sylvester who resides at near-by Bar Beach in Newcastle.

A full day of action tomorrow in the Burton Toyota Pro and to win the event the champion will be required to surf through four gruelling heats.

The action will begin at 8:00am at Merewether and the waves are again forecast to be really good.

Legendary Pacific Coast Pro Women’s Results -
Final: 1st Coco Ho (Hawaii) 2nd Courtney Conlogue (USA)

Semi Final 1: 1st Coco Ho (HAW), 2nd Sally Fitzgibbons (AUST)
Semi Final 2: 1st Courtney Conlogue (USA), 2nd Sofia Mulanovich (Peru)

The event is live webcast via www.aspaustralasia.com/live/2011/surfest and all results and heat draws across both men’s and women’s can be found on the ASP website.

Top Seeds Dominate Legendary Pacific Coast Pro in Association with Commonwealth Bank

Number one seed and current 2010 world number 2 ranked surfer Sally Fitzgibbons summed up the feeling of all the women at this event after her convincing heat win saying, “It’s so good for our event with a six star rating to actually hold priority over the 4 star Men’s, usually it’s the other way around and we often have to surf later in the day when the winds are up but we’re getting the best of the conditions here!”

“ Today’s waves are a lot of fun with clean winds and all the girls are scoring big – there’s a lot on the line at six star events as far as qualifying for the 2012 elite World Title tour goes and everyone’s surfing really well so winning here will require a sustained high scoring performance.”

Fitzgibbons opened the heat with an excellent 8.17 and went onto a comfortable win with a combined two wave heat tally of 15.17 leaving her opponents chasing a combination of score to catch her. New Zealand’s Wini Paul placed 2nd on a modest heat score of 8.26 to also advance to round three.

Local surfer Philippa Anderson caused the biggest upset of the morning winning her round two heat and eliminating highly rated Jessi Mylie-Dyer from Sydney. Anderson caught a strong 7.5 ride in the final minute of the heat to jump to 1st place defeating Hawaii’s Alana Blanchard with Mylie Dyer out in 4th.

Tyler Wright, the 16 year-old Northern NSW sensation continued her recent great form posting an outstanding 9 point ride early in her heat to take an easy win over Argentina’s Ornella Pellizari.

Fresh off her second placing at last week’s Roxy Pro on the Gold Coast Wright looked confident in today’s surf.

“Very different waves here in Newcastle to what we surfed at Snapper Rocks last week – Snappers a long peeling point wave whereas here at Merewether it’s a little shorter but still a lot of fun – you just need to select the right waves coming through and good scores are there – I’m happy with that first heat and with bigger waves apparently for the weekend we should be in for a great event” said Wright.

Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich, the 2004 world champion and current number 5 ranked surfer in the world looked comfortable winning through to round three in the final heat today when she defeated Lakey Peterson (USA) with Hawaiian Bethany Hamilton eliminated in 3rd place.

During the afternoon round three of the Burton Toyota Pro Men’s Pro resumed and the biggest upset was local favourite Ryan Callinan who was eliminated by USA surfer Jared Thorne who won the heat ahead of young northern NSW surfer Mitchell James (Kingscliff) who also progressed in second place.

Others to impress included Garrett Parkes (Byron Bay) and Yjiro Tsuji (JPN) while former great local surfer Luke Egan was narrowly eliminated in his round three heat late in the day.

Legendary Pacific Coast Pro in association with Commonwealth Bank round two results:

Australia unless otherwise stated – listed in order of 1st to 4th with 1st and 2nd progressing to round 3.

Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW), Lee Ann Curren (FRA), Laura Enever, Nicola Atherton
Heat 2: Paige Hareb (NZ), Nikita Robb (ZAF), Armedine Sanchez (FRA), Freya Prumm
Heat 3: Philippa Anderson, Alana Blanchard (HAW), Ellie –Jean Coffee, Jessi Miley-Dyer
Heat 4: Sally Fitzgibbons, Wini Paul (NZ), Bruna Schmitz (BRA), Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
Heat 5: Coco Ho (HAW), Amiya Doyle, Joanne Defay (FRA), Claudia Conclaves (BRA)
Heat 6: Pauline Ado (FRA), Sarah Mason (NZ), Felicity Palmeteer, Gabi Cope (HAW)
Heat 7: Silvana Lima (BRA), Alizee Arnaud (FRA), Nage Malamed (HAW), Erica Hosseini (USA)
Heat 8: Tyler Wright, Ornella Palizari (ARG), Lauina McGrath, Bianca Buitendag (ZAF)
Heat 9: Sage Erickson (USA), Dimity Stoyle, Taryn Chudleigh (ZAF), Jacqueline Silva (BRA)
Heat 10: Claire Bevilacqua, Rebecca Woods, Bronte Macaulay, Paige Haggerston
Heat 11: Sarah Baum (ZAF), Courtney Conlogue (USA), Canelle Bulard (REU), Suelen Narasia (BRA)
Heat 12: Sofia Mulanovich (PERU), Lakey Peterson (USA), Bethany Hamilton (HAW) Justine Dupont (FRA)

The event is live webcast via www.aspaustralasia.com/live/2011/surfest and all results and heat draw across both men’s and women’s can be found on this site.

The event resumes early tomorrow with both Men’s and Women’s action likely.

http://www.aspworldtour.com/2011/03/16/top-seeds-dominate-legendary-pacific-coast-pro-in-association-with-commonwealth-bank/

Tyler Wright wins O’Neill Women’s World Cup

Wildcard Tyler Wright (AUS), 16, has won the O’Neill Women’s World Cup of Surfing, topping Sunset Beach local Coco Ho (HAW), 19, reigning four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Steph Gilmore (AUS), 22, and ASP Women’s World Tour No. 2 Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, in two-to-four foot (1 metre) surf at Sunset Beach.