Quarterfinals decided at the Roxy Pro France
Bianca Buitendag won her heat this morning in round four. Picture courtesy of ASP/Kirstin Scholtz
It was an exciting second instalment of the Roxy Pro France this morning, as a handful of the world’s best female surfers took to the water to fight for a spot in the quarterfinals, in four-to-six foot conditions.
The opening heat of the morning saw two local frenchwomen Johanne Defay and Pauline Ado go head-to-head, competing for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Ado hesitated on her opener but fortunately found a multiple-manoeuvre right to match Defay’s early score and overtake the lead. Defay needed a solid backup to regain the lead, but struggled during the second half. Defay found the crucial wave she was looking for, took off on a right and closed with a powerful stomp — overtaking Ado and crushing any dream’s of Ado’s to claim a home-turf victory.
“I’m just going to try to not think about the rankings,” said Defay.
The second heat of the morning saw Tyler Wright take on Dimity Stoyle. The two thought hard, with Stoyle taking to the waves with multiple roundhouse carves, but Wright was not far behind slicing with fins-free hacks for the upper hand on the exchange.
Stoyle searched hard but her wave selection was lacking, she only managed a two-maneouver score — which saw her fall further and further behind. However, Wright maintained and advanced into the quarterfinals.
“That was a tough heat for me,” said Wright. “It felt big but it was more of a mental thing than anything else. I’m working rally hard out there. I’m finding the waves really hard to read and I’m missing a lot of sections I’d usually get.”
Heat three saw Bianca Buitendag and Nikki Van Dijk battle it out. Van Dijk began early, but Buitendag was the first to log a solid score — attacking the lip with two vertical hacks for an eight-pointer. A backup midrange score left Van Dijk hunting for two new scores.Van Dijk found the first score to get herself out of the combination situation, for some solid carves, but was still chasing a near perfect nine-pointer in the last 10 minutes, which she was unable to achieve.
“It’s something you just have to get past,” said Van Dijk, entering the comp with a new board after hers was stolen the night before. “It doesn’t really matter what you’re riding. I love being there but I’m frustrated with how I surfed. I wanted to show off how I can surf.”
The final heat of the morning was the highly anticipated bout between Stephanie Gilmore and Lakey Peterson. The two delivered big from the start. Five-time ASP World Champ, Stephanie Gilmore, connected snaps with on-rail carves for an 8.83, while Peterson attacked the lip with some aggressive hacks for a six-pointer, followed but a 7.50 to take an early lead.
Gilmore’s second half gave her the advantage. A 7.90 pushed her into the lead, leaving Peterson in a combination situation which she could never achieve — despite a solid two-wave total.
“Being in the lead is kind of hard because you’re trying to defend something,” Gilmore said. “But the pressure is really on the other girls to pull off big scores. I’m trying to just improve on what I’ve done so it’s a nice position to be in.”
For more recaps, highlights and videos go to: aspworldtour.com or alternatively their YouTube Channel ASP
Roxy Pro France Round 4 Results:
Heat 1: Johanne Defay (FRA) 11.77 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 11.66
Heat 2: Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.66 def. Dimity Stoyle (AUS) 10.07
Heat 3: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 14.00 def. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 9.70
Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 17.60 def. Lakey Peterson (USA) 14.33
Roxy Pro France Quarterfinals Match-ups:
QF 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) vs. Johanne Defay
QF 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
QF 3: Courtney Conlogue (USA) vs. Biance Buitendag (ZAF)
QF 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
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