Stop No. 4 of 8 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour<\/p>\n
Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil<\/p>\n
September 10 \u0096 18, 2008<\/p>\n
Melanie Bartels Wins Billabong Girls Pro Rio in Rifling Barrels at Barra da Tijuca<\/p>\n
\nPictured: Melanie Bartels (HAW), 26, en route to her phenomenal victory at the 2008 Billabong Girls Pro Rio.<\/p>\n
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Wednesday, September 17, 2008) \u0096 Melanie Bartels (HAW), 26, has won the 2008 Billabong Girls Pro Rio, defeating fellow finalist Sofia Mulanovich (PER), 25, in rifling four foot (1.5 metre) barrels at Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro today.<\/p>\n
Event No. 4 of 8 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour, the Billabong Girls Pro Rio survived through a grueling five-day lay period to culminate in excellent conditions today, with the ASP Top 17 putting in some of the best performances in ASP history.Billabong Girls Pro Rio<\/p>\n
Bartels, who rockets up from 14th to 6th on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour, collects her second career Dream Tour win (her first as a full-time member) with today\u0092s victory at the Billabong Girls Pro Rio.<\/p>\n
\u0093It\u0092s an amazing feeling and I\u0092m just overwhelmed right now,\u0094 Bartels said. \u0093My last win was in 2006 as a wildcard at Sunset so to be able to come out on top today, in these conditions, is really special. The waves started to deteriorate towards the end, but I was able to grab a couple of scores against Sofia (Mulanovich) and I was really just surfing my own heat out there and doing my own thing. I was having fun.\u0094<\/p>\n
The Hawaiian, who was unable to make the second event of the season, has rebounded in spectacular form today, defeating the reigning ASP Women\u0092s World Champion during the Semifinals in what some are calling the best heat in women\u0092s professional surfing history (19.00 def.18.50) before taking down Mulanovich in the Final.<\/p>\n
\u0093After that Semifinal with Steph (Gilmore) I was filled with a lot of confidence,\u0094 Bartels said. \u0093The waves pumped for that heat and we were trading barrel after barrel. That\u0092s the most fun I\u0092ve had in a heat in a long time. I had a tough start to the year with sponsors and results, but that just made me really hungry and after today, I\u0092m really looking forward to the rest of the year.\u0094<\/p>\n
Mulanovich, who solidifies her position at No. 2 on the ASP Women\u0092s World Tour ratings with today\u0092s runner up finish, continues to collect consistent results in 2008 with her third Finals appearance of the season.<\/p>\n
\u0093Another Final is a good result for me,\u0094 Mulanovich said. \u0093Of course I would have liked a win, but congratulations to Mel (Bartels), she was on fire. I just couldn\u0092t find the scoring waves in the Final so maybe things will be different next time. The next event is in Sydney and after that it is at home in Peru so I am looking forward these next few events.\u0094<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 20, reigning ASP Women\u0092s World Champion and current No. 1 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour, was in sensational form today, netting the event\u0092s only perfect 10-point ride and backing it up with an 8.50, but was still unable to overcome Bartels in the Semifinals.<\/p>\n
\u0093You can\u0092t be too disappointed when you lose a heat like that,\u0094 Gilmore said. \u0093Mel (Bartels) surfed amazing and deserved that win. I did everything I could out there and there wasn\u0092t much more I could do. Mel got two really good waves and I got one really good one.\u0094<\/p>\n
Gilmore also earned the Kustom Best Wave Award for her phenomenal perfect 10-point backdoor barrel, reiterating her dominating form, but the young Australian is more aware than ever of how close the race for the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Title has become. <\/p>\n
\u0093You can\u0092t count anyone out of it these days,\u0094 Gilmore said. \u0093Mel (Bartels) is one of my favorite surfers and it was only a matter of time before she went off this year. The next stop is in Manly and I have a pretty good track record out there so hopefully I can regroup and put in another result there.\u0094<\/p>\n
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, former seven-time ASP Women\u0092s World Champion was another potential champion this morning, dispatching of local favorite Silvana Lima (BRA), 23, in their Quarterfinal bout, but was unable to overcome her Peruvian opponent in the Semifinals.<\/p>\n
\u0093I couldn\u0092t buy a wave out there,\u0094 Beachley said. \u0093I think the Semifinal before us took all the waves then so that was a bit of a disappointment. A 3rd is a good result, but it\u0092s two years since I\u0092ve had a win and I\u0092m certainly ready for one.\u0094<\/p>\n
Highlights from the Billabong Girls Pro Rio can be accessed via http:\/\/www.billabongpro.com\/rio08\/ <\/p>\n
The next stop on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour will be the Beachley Classic in Sydney, Australia from October 9 \u0096 14, 2008.<\/p>\n
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com <\/p>\n
Billabong Girls Pro Rio Final Results:<\/p>\n
1 \u0096 Melanie Bartels (HAW) 14.34<\/p>\n
2 \u0096 Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.60<\/p>\n
Billabong Girls Pro Rio Semifinal Results:<\/p>\n
Semifinal 1: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 19.00 def. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 18.50<\/p>\n
Semifinal 2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 11.67 def Layne Beachley (AUS) 9.46<\/p>\n
Billabong Girls Pro Rio Quarterfinal Results:<\/p>\n
Quarterfinal 1: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 8.84 def. Samantha Cornish (AUS) 5.23<\/p>\n
Quarterfinal 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.47 def. Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 8.50<\/p>\n
Quarterfinal 3: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 11.74 def. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 8.60<\/p>\n
Quarterfinal 4: Layne Beachley (AUS) 14.83 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 10.33<\/p>\n
Current ASP Women\u0092s World Tour Ratings: After Event No. 4 of 8<\/p>\n
1 \u0096 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 3516 points<\/p>\n
2 \u0096 Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 3504 points<\/p>\n
3 \u0096 Layne Beachley (AUS) 3036 points<\/p>\n
4 \u0096 Samantha Cornish (AUS) 2628 points<\/p>\n
5 \u0096 Amee Donohoe (AUS) 2424 points<\/p>\n
6 \u0096 Melanie Bartels (HAW) 2112 points<\/p>\n
7 \u0096 Silvana Lima (BRA) 2028 points<\/p>\n
8 \u0096 Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 1836 points<\/p>\n
9 \u0096 Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 1824 points<\/p>\n
10 \u0096 Rebecca Woods (AUS) 1632 points<\/p>\n
11 \u0096 Megan Abubo (HAW) 1452 points<\/p>\n
11 \u0096 Julia De La Rosa (PER) 1452 points<\/p>\n
13 \u0096 Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 1440 points<\/p>\n
14 \u0096 Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS) 1260 points<\/p>\n
14 \u0096 Karina Petroni (USA) 1260 points<\/p>\n
14 \u0096 Nicola Atherton (AUS) 1260 points<\/p>\n
17 \u0096 Serena Brooke (AUS) 1080 points<\/p>\n
18 \u0096 Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 912 points*<\/p>\n
*First replacement on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stop No. 4 of 8 on the 2008 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 10 \u0096 18, 2008 Melanie Bartels Wins Billabong Girls Pro Rio in Rifling Barrels at Barra da Tijuca Pictured: Melanie Bartels (HAW), 26, en route to her phenomenal victory at the 2008 Billabong Girls Pro … Continue reading “Melanie Bartels Wins Billabong Girls Pro Rio in Rifling Barrels at Barra da Tijuca”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asp-surfing-news","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}