Un’ ultima giornata parecchio infuocata quella di ieri al Women’s Oi Rio Pro 2016, 4° tappa del Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour, dove l’australiana Tyler Wright ha ottenuto la vittoria a Barra da Tijuca contro la connazionale Sally Fitzgibbons in una finale molto combattuta.
La vittoria di oggi a Rio è la terza della Wright durante questa stagione, dopo i trionfi precedenti sulla Gold Coast e a Bells Beach. Vincendo questo evento l’australiana ottiene anche il primo posto sulla jeep Leaderboard ad al prossimo evento indosserà la maglia di leader, al Women’s Fiji Pro. Prima della finale la Wright aveva precedentemente eliminato l’hawaiiana e attuale Campionessa del Mondo in carica Carissa Moore e la francese Johanne Defay.
Il match-up tutto australiano ha visto una stretta battaglia tra le due australiane. La Wright ha preso il controllo della heat mostrando tutto il suo power surfing e dominando dall’inizio alla fine la Finale con la Fitzgibbons.
Quella di ieri è stata la seconda finale di questa stagione, dopo quell di Bells Beach. Per raggiungere la finale la Fitzgibbons ha dovuto avere la meglio dell’americana Courtney Conlogue e l’hawaiiana Malia Manuel.
A heated final day at the Oi Rio Women’s Pro, the fourth stop on the Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour, saw Tyler Wright (AUS) claim victory at Barra da Tijuca defeatingSally Fitzgibbons (AUS) in a hard-fought Final.
The win today in Rio is Wright’s third of the season, following previous triumphs on the Gold Coast and at Bells Beach. Back-to-back event wins see her take first place on the Jeep Leaderboard and Wright will wear the leader jersey at the upcoming Fiji Women’s Pro. Wright previously dispatched Carissa Moore (HAW) and Johanne Defay (FRA) en route to the Final today.
The all-Australian Final match-up saw a close battle between Wright and Fitzgibbons. Showcasing her power surfing and control, Wright set the bar early on by dropping an excellent 8.67. Wright continued to back up her opening ride, putting pressure on Fitzgibbons to land a solid score. With ten minutes left on the clock, Fitzgibbons hammered a critical section to earn 7.17 and begin to close the gap on Wright. In the closing minutes Fitzgibbons was left searching for 5.94 while massive sets out the back pushed the athletes further from the take-off. Fitzgibbons was out of position to attempt a final attack and Wright, with a 13.10 two-wave score, defeated Fitzgibbons by 2.76 points to take the win.
Today is the second Final berth for Fitzgibbons this season, who also finished runner-up at Bells Beach. The result will see the two-time Rio event winner move up one place on the Jeep Leaderboard from 6th to 5th. To reach the Final Fitzgibbons took downCourtney Conlogue (USA) and Malia Manuel (HAW).
Oi Rio Women’s Pro Final Results:
1 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.10
2 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 10.34
Oi Rio Women’s Pro Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.10 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 14.00
SF 2: Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.60 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 10.10
Oi Rio Women’s Pro Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.73 def. Malia Manuel (HAW) 13.30
QF 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 16.50 def. Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 11.10
QF 3: Tyler Wright (AUS) 14.87 def. Johanne Defay (FRA) 12.70
QF 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.84 def. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 7.50
2016 Samsung Galaxy Top 5 (after Oi Rio Women’s Pro):
1 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 35,200 pts
2 – Courtney Conlogue (USA) 32,500 pts
3 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 26,000 pts
4 – Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 23,400 pts
5 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 22,950 pts