For the first time all season, both Tatiana Weston-Webb and Malia Manuel are into the quarterfinal round of a Championship Tour event. Upsets around them have been noticeable, but the Cascais Women’s Pro is proving to be the best contest
For the first time all season, both Tatiana Weston-Webb and Malia Manuel are into the quarterfinal round of a Championship Tour event. Upsets around them have been noticeable, but the Cascais Women’s Pro is proving to be the best contest of the season for the combined efforts of Kauai’s CT duo.
Having returned from a five-month absence, Manuel came back in early September to compete at the Swatch Pro at Trestles. That contest didn’t amount to much for either she or Weston-Webb and both were knocked out in round two.
But each found the right waves to work with last week to reach the final eight. It’s already equal to Manuel’s best result this season, when she had to withdraw during the quarterfinals at Margaret River. It’s just the third time this year that Tati has reached the quarterfinal round, but in each of the first two instances, she’s gone on to make the final heat.
The only unfortunate circumstance is that they will face each other in the quarters.
Manuel has already survived a pair of elimination heats, first upsetting Johanne Defay in round two and then knocking out Bianca Buitendag in round four. Weston-Webb hasn’t had an elimination matchup yet, since she’s come out on top in both of her three-woman heats.
But the field is now wide open for anyone to leave Portugal with the title. Though current points leader Sally Fitzgibbons is still in the mix, Tyler Wright, Courtney Conlogue and Stephanie Gilmore have all been knocked off in the early rounds. Those three are currently the closest to Fitzgibbons in the rankings, so she is guaranteed to leave Cascais with the yellow jersey still in tow.
Though she is still in the contest and already guaranteed to at least equal her best result of the season, all those upsets are actually bad news for Carissa Moore. Having come into the event in ninth place, Moore would be better off if the top seeds continued to add the big points and those in her same area of the standings began to slide down the ladder. Her run to the quarters is merely keeping pace with the pack because every surfer ranked between No. 7 and No. 11 is still alive.
So while it’s already a solid result for Moore, she has to keep watching all the other heats. Her quarterfinal opponent is the red-hot Sage Erickson (ranked No. 5), who is into her fifth consecutive quarterfinal round. Erickson is having a career season and has found various ways to continue picking up impressive results.
Nikki Van Dijk will be taking on Lakey Peterson and Fitzgibbons will face Keely Andrew in the other two matchups.
With Tati currently second in the Qualifying Series and Manuel almost certainly assured of the injury wild card for next season, Moore actually faces the most pressure of anyone on finals day. If she can at least reach her first semifinal of the season — something that seems ridiculous to be talking about in October — then she should continue to control her own destiny with two events remaining.
But a loss to Erickson, coupled with one more heat win for Tati and some magic by Andrew could put Moore outside the top 10 heading to France.
I’ve been harping on it all season because it’s becoming more and more realistic, but re-qualifiction is very much a concern for the three-time world champion. Every heat will be meaningful once action resumes on the other side of the globe.
•••
David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
