LIHU‘E — Finalists of the ASP Billabong Azores Islands Women’s Pro presented by Nissan were decided Thursday, with American Courtney Conlogue to go up against Australian Laura Enever. Despite competition kicking off early in the day with round three, the
LIHU‘E — Finalists of the ASP Billabong Azores Islands Women’s Pro presented by Nissan were decided Thursday, with American Courtney Conlogue to go up against Australian Laura Enever.
Despite competition kicking off early in the day with round three, the incoming tide pushed in and after consulting with the finalists, it was decided by event officials to postpone the final until the weekend.
Kaua‘i’s Nage Melamed advanced furthest of the three Hawai‘i participants, making it into the quarterfinals before losing her head-to-head heat to Enever.
Conlogue, 18, made the final by ousting Australia’s Claire Bevilacqua, who finished equal third. Tactically surfing the perfect heat Conlogue left no room for her opponent to really compete in the heat.
Fast, on-the-rail surfing from the opening siren saw Conolgue gain the lead and then progressively build on her scores, ending up with a combined heat total of 15.20 out of a possible 20 — the highest of the day.
“It is real tough out there today with these conditions but you just have to go out and surf your best and do what you can to get the scores and the result,” she said. “I’m stoked to be in the final now and I think that anyone could have made the final today, so you have to be on your toes and be consistent.”
Currently in ninth position on the ASP Women’s World Star ranking, Conlogue will be out to solidify her position in the top ten to ensure her place on ASP Women’s World Tour 2011.
“Laura (Enever) will be really tough to beat in these kinds of conditions because she knows what to do in this surf,” she said. “So it is going to be a challenge and I hope I have my game on. I don’t know why it is working out for me today but I am going out there to surf and to have fun and in these type of waves, I think it shows who has gone out there to get into it and work and have fun and those who don’t.”
Enever, 18, 2010 Women’s ASP World Junior Champion took out Peru’s Sophia Mulanovich, the 2004 Women’s ASP World Champion, to set up a finals clash against Conlogue in a tight, low-scoring semifinal. The tide was pushing in to create a very tactical heat, which in the end came down to wave ion. Matching Mulanovich with her opening ride, Enever then waited and finally grinded out a 5.33 out of a possible 10 to take the lead, which she retained until the final siren.
“I am really stoked to make the final, which will be my first for the year on the WQS,” Enever said. “So I am very excited and hopefully we will get some waves for the final and we can put on a good show for all the people who are here on the island to watch the contest. There were some waves in my semifinal and I only just got my boards last night, so it is good to be back on my own boards now and let’s hope for waves on the weekend.”
The scene is set for a great final as both girls are small-wave specialists and Enever is not lacking in respect for her next opponent.
“Courtney has impressed a lot lately and it is definitely going to be a tough final as she has been getting good scores through the whole day today and for me, I have to look for the high scoring waves and try and put some pressure on her,” she said.
Bevilacqua placed equal third and looked in top form, having scored a 9.23, the highest single wave score of the event in her quarterfinal. But coming up against a steamrolling Conloque in her semifinal, Bevilacqua had to settle for her third position overall.
“I pretty much did what I didn’t want to do, which was watching Courtney catching everything in sight and I think she caught about 5 waves before I had even paddled for one,” she said. “So she did everything right and I paddled in the wrong direction, so I missed all the good waves so it was bad luck, but I could have probably done a few things better.”
Mulanovich surfed well in her previous heats and looked at home in the conditions, however came unstuck in the semis against Enever to finish equal third.
Melamed had moved into the Round of 12 after getting through the opening two rounds on Tuesday.
She followed up that performance with a heat victory in Thursday’s opening round, paddling out with South Africa’s Bianca Butendag and Australia’s Tyler Wright, with the top two performers moving on to the quarterfinals.
Her opening wave put Melamed in good standing, taking a 6.17 score, which she added to on her fourth and final wave, a heat-best 6.67 for the 12.84 total.
Butendag advanced with a 9.90, with Wright unable to get going and finishing with a 3.17.
Enever got off to a strong start in the quarters, scoring a 5.83 on her first ride and then a 7.43 on her fourth to come away with a 13.26 to 7.17 victory over Melamed.
The men’s event is scheduled to resume today, with the final heat of the opening round then leading to second round action.
Tournament information provided by an ASP press release.
