On the heels of her gold medal at the World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador, Tatiana Weston-Webb added a title at the Chain Resources Pro Junior while also making the semifinals for an Equal 3rd finish at the Port Taranaki
On the heels of her gold medal at the World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador, Tatiana Weston-Webb added a title at the Chain Resources Pro Junior while also making the semifinals for an Equal 3rd finish at the Port Taranaki Pro, Sunday at Fitzroy Beach in New Zealand.
Competing in both events, the Princeville surfer had the best finish of the five Kauai wahine who all made the trip to the North Island of New Zealand. As a 6-Star World Qualifying Series event, the Port Taranaki Pro offered the most possible points for Association of Surfing Professionals world rankings. Finishing third gives Weston-Webb 2,080 points to add to her 2014 total, along with $1,900 in prize money.
Earlier in the week, Tati continued to dominate the junior field as she was able to top Chelsea Tuach from Barbados in the Pro Junior final. She led the heat from wire to wire, picking up some early waves and receiving a 9.00 on a ride about seven minutes into the battle. Tuach kept within striking distance and a 7.00 score saw her need a wave in the seven to eight-point range for most of the heat until Tati backed up her nine with a 7.15. Now needing a 9.15 with just four minutes remaining, Tuach’s final effort didn’t have enough substance and Weston-Webb won by a 16.15 to 13.65 score.
As impressive as her 2-Star Pro Junior title, Tati’s run through most of the 6-Star event may have been even more so. The third place finish is by far her best QS result of the year and will put her back towards the top of the rankings, in which she entered the week in 24th place.
Coming into Sunday’s action, two Kauai surfers remained in the QS contest, but it would be just one moving into the semifinals, as Tati was going head-to-head with Kilauea’s Leila Hurst in the quarters. Hurst has begun the year well, already reaching the quarterfinals at the 6-Star Australian Open, and took control of Sunday’s heat from the start. She appeared poised and confident, continuing to get the better of each exchange with Tati as the pair took off on consecutive waves multiple times. Hurst started with a solid 6.50 and bettered that on a 7.50 ride, connecting bottom to top turns with fluidity and finishing every ride with ease and grace.
That better score saw Tati need an 8.33 to gain the lead but she cut that deficit to a more manageable number when she scored a 7.60 on a fierce left. Tati’s turns off the lip obviously impressed the judges and though her rides weren’t long, her execution was evident. Still, she needed a 6.40 with just a few minutes remaining to move past her fellow Garden Isle competitor. As the clock ticked below two minutes, Tati found a small wave but made it worthwhile, connecting her turns with snapbacks to just barely get the required score and move into the lead. The ocean got flat from there and Weston-Webb was into the semis with a 14.33 to 14.00 victory.
Hurst’s second Equal 5th of the season gets her 1,560 points and $1,100 in cash.
The semifinals was less kind to Weston-Webb as Australia’s Laura Enever, currently a member of the ASP Top 17 on the Women’s World Tour, controlled the heat from the start and raced out for a 17.26 to 8.93 victory. Brazil’s Silvana Lima, another former world tour competitor, went on to top Enever in the final to take the Port Taranaki Pro title.
Hanalei’s Nage Melamed reached the sixth round and continued her solid 2014 with an Equal 9th place finish. Melamed came into the event ranked fifth in the world rankings, so the 900 points she now adds may not even be a keeper result come year end, since the top three results comprise each surfer’s final standing. Coming into the week, four of the top five surfers – Malia Manuel, Alessa Quizon, Carissa Moore and Melamed – in the QS standings were from Hawaii. With the success of Hurst (12th) and Weston-Webb (24th), the top 10 is now going to have even more Hawaiian flags waving.
KENNELLY EARNS BIG WAVE AWARD: Additional congratulations to Kauai’s Keala Kennelly, who won the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Award in the Women’s Performance category on Friday. It’s now the third XXL award for Kennelly, her second consecutive honor.
