The wahine entered the water Wednesday for the second World Championship Tour event of their season, taking on the challenging waves at Margaret River in Western Australia. Margaret River made its WCT debut for the women last year. They have
The wahine entered the water Wednesday for the second World Championship Tour event of their season, taking on the challenging waves at Margaret River in Western Australia. Margaret River made its WCT debut for the women last year. They have returned and the men have joined for the first time as both world tours hold simultaneous competitions.
Wednesday was a long session for the women as the 18 competitors who began the day were more than halved as just eight remain heading into the quarterfinals. One of those eight is Kauai’s Malia Manuel who is continuing her great start to 2014. Manuel reached the quarters at the season-opening Roxy Pro Gold Coast for an Equal 5th place before falling to defending world champion Carissa Moore. She also has a title and an Equal 3rd in her two World Qualifying Series 6-Star events, putting her again in strong position atop the women’s world rankings.
It’s going to be a challenge to improve upon her current standing because it’s Moore who will again face Manuel in their head-to-head quarterfinal heat. The event was on a lay day Friday with potential for a Saturday restart (Today, 1 p.m. HST).
Manuel took charge of her opening heat from the start, going up against Australian surfers Sally Fitzgibbons and Nikki Van Dijk. The Wailua native took the heat’s first wave and used a big, swooping bottom turn to propel into a few carves that netted a 7.83 score from the judges. That would hold up as the heat’s top wave and she used a long ride with 13 minutes left to add 4.67 to her total. The 12.50 total put Van Dijk in a combo situation and forced Fitzgibbons to need a nine-point ride to take the lead. The necessary waves never materialized and Manuel advanced directly into the third round, avoiding the elimination second round.
The third round posed a stiffer challenge with Manuel going up against both Moore and Australia’s Dimity Stoyle. She again started off strong with the first wave, taking off late but heading right with some crisp turns for a 5.83 to get on the board. She stayed in the lead and improved upon the score to beat with a strong one-turn wave that was good enough for a 4.33 and a 10.16 total. She remained on top until Moore used some wicked turns and a layback snap at the end of one wave for a 9.10 score. Moore won the heat with a 15.33 total and sent both Manuel and Stoyle into the fourth round of elimination heats.
That meant a head-to-head battle with France’s Johanne Defay and Manuel kept up her pattern of quick starts, jumping on an early right with strong turns on the face for a solid 6.17. The 30-minute heat was short on scores but Manuel found a good wave with over 21 minutes remaining, continuing to head right with precise and powerful turns for a 6.33. Defay needed an 8.33 in the waning moments, but her last gasp wasn’t up to the task, despite her attempt at a reverse as the horn sounded.
Alana Blanchard was unable to advance out of the second round, going up against Stoyle in the first elimination heat. Not much was available from mother nature, but Stoyle moved on with a 9.34 total to Blanchard’s 6.07. Blanchard takes an Equal 13th, as she did at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast.
On the men’s side, Kilauea’s Sebastian Zietz will go up against Australia’s Matt Wilkinson in the elimination second round.
Both the men’s and women’s events should make a determination on whether or not to resume today at 1 p.m. HST (7 a.m. local Australian time).
