American, Courtney Conlogue, dominated the final day of the Women’s Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, winning all three of her heats in convincing fashion to take the title and move up to second in the Championship Tour ratings.
Courtney beat Carissa Moore in the final to clinch victory.
Margaret River’s main peak was offering big, powerful rights for competitors on the final day, and high scores were being locked-in regularly. Lakey Peterson (USA) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) struggled to keep up with Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) and Carissa Moore (HAW) respectively in the opening two heats, otherwise the remaining five heats of the day were characterised by big scores and tough battles.
In Heat 3 of the quarter finals, Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) lost to Malia Manuel (HAW) in a close finish. Requiring a 7.81 to grab the lead on her final ride, Bianca smashed two big backhand turns to score a 7.20 and fell just short. Courtney Conlogue started off her day with a solid win over Tyler Wright (AUS) in the last quarter final heat, setting up a semi-final showdown with Malia.
Margaret River and Courtney Conlogue were in top-form on the final day.
Sally Fitzgibbons started stronger than Carissa Moore in the first semi final, but the Hawaiian fought back strongly halfway through the heat by scoring a near-perfect 9.33, which she backed-up with a mid-range score six minutes later to grab a narrow victory – 14.73pts to Sally’s 14.27pts – and move on to the final.
Courtney Conlogue dominated the second semi-final from start to finish, despite Malia Manuel putting up a strong fight. Malia’s 15.87 heat total would have won her the first semi-final, but it wasn’t enough to match Courtney’s excellent 17.53 in their match-up.
Ratings leader, Carissa Moore was looking for her third straight event win.
The final started with Carissa looking to draw first blood, but the Hawaiian chose a wave that wasn’t offering much. Courtney waited for a better wave behind Carissa’s and managed a mid-range score to take the early initiative. Carissa caught a much better wave for her second ride and smashed it for a score of 8.50 to gain the advantage with twenty minutes remaining.
Another mid-range score by Courtney saw the American grab the lead back, before she clocked-in a strong 8.43 to apply even more pressure on Carissa. Needing an attainable 6.60 to snatch the lead on her final ride, Carissa only managed a 4.63. There was still five minutes left in the heat though, but Courtney shut the door with a brilliantly surfed 8.50 with just over two minutes left. As the heat wound down, Carissa was left waiting in the lineup for an 8.44 that never came.
Too strong! Courtney Conlogue was unstoppable in the final.
Carissa Moore kept her place on top of the rankings despite finishing second in the final, while Courtney replaces Steph Gilmore (who withdrew from the event injured) in second spot. Bianca Buitendag lies just out of the Top 10 in 11th spot.
Here are the Women’s Championship Tour rankings as it stands after three events:
1 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 28,000pts
2 – Courtney Conlogue (USA) 21,700pts
3 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 19,300pts
4 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 16,900pts
5 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16,300pts
6 – Lakey Peterson (USA) 15,600pts
7 – Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 15,000pts
8 – Malia Manuel (HAW) 13,450pts
=9 – Silvana Lima (BRA) 11,800pts
=9 – Coco Ho (HAW) 11,800pts
11 – Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 10,250pts
Go to worldsurfleague.com to catch all the heat reviews, results and photos from the Women’s Drug Aware Margaret River Pro.
