Sally Fitzgibbons has won the Fiji Women’s Pro to make it back-to-back victories on the Dream Tour following her win in Brazil. Victory at cooking Cloudbreak sees the Australian jump above early season standout, Carissa Moore (HAW), in the rankings, while Bianca Buitendag held on to sixth place after making the quarter-finals.
ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR RANKINGS (following Fiji Pro)
1 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) – 49,200
2 – Carissa Moore (HAW) – 44,900
3 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) – 40,750
4 – Tyler Wright (AUS) – 34,300
5 – Malia Manuel (HAW) – 31,900
6 – Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) – 28,750
Bianca Buitendag was ripping, but fell just short in the quarter finals against Stephanie Gilmore.
Bianca was two minutes away from a spot in the semi-finals after a strong start to the heat, which saw the Vic Bay local crack an overhead Cloudbreak wall to score an 8.17. But holding just a small back-up score as the clock wound down meant that her lead could be easily overturned. With priority as a set rolled through the lineup and knowing well that Steph only needed a small score to win, Bianca caught the first to keep her opponent at bay. She worked the wave to score a 5.33 and increased her lead.
Unfortunately Cloudbreak often sees more than one wave in a set and Stephanie caught a bigger and cleaner wave out the back. The 5-time world champ cracked one more solid turn than Bianca had on her set to score a 7.50, which was enough to grab a spot in the semi-finals.
Stephanie Gilmore was looking to grab her first victory since the opening event on the Gold Coast.
Ratings leader coming into the event, Carissa Moore, lost in a low-scoring quarter-final heat with Australian rookie, Dimity Stoyle. The slip-up cost the Hawaiian her lead as Sally Fitzgibbons marched on to the semi-finals after winning her heat against compatriot, Laura Enever.
Stephanie and Sally made light work of their semi-final opponents, Dimity Stoyle and Malia Manual (HAW) – although the Hawaiian was bravely surfing through the pain of an injured hand.
Eventual winner, Sally Fitzgibbons was charging throughout the final day.
The final was a tense low-scoring affair in a difficult Cloudbreak lineup. The wind was tearing some ribs through the faces, which made it hard to find a wave with lots of scoring potential. In the end, Sally clinched victory with a gutsy ride on a dredging set through the soupy inside section. The commitment was enough to ensure that she was crowned Fiji Women’s Pro Champ.
Here are the video highlights from a solid final day:
Check out www.aspworldtour.com for all the results, heat reviews and rankings.
