Gilmore Wins Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Takes ASP Women’s World Tour Lead<\/p>\n
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SNAPPER ROCKS, Australia (Sunday, March 8, 2009) \u2013 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, reigning two-time ASP Women\u2019s World Champion, has won the Roxy Pro Gold Coast presented by LG Mobile, defeating Melanie Bartels (HAW), 26, in the Final to claim the inaugural event on the 2009 ASP Women\u2019s World Tour.<\/p>\n
Gilmore wasted no time in the Final, securing the day\u2019s high single-wave score of a 9.57 out of a possible 10 on her opening wave for a fluid series of fin releases and power carves.\u201cIt was a really little wave,\u201d Gilmore said. \u201cI had a few flashbacks from 2005 where I was trying to pick off the little ones that were going to grow down the line. Today it just so happened I picked a good one. It is important to get a good start and get a lead early in the heat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilmore\u2019s victory today at Snapper Rocks marks her fourth consecutive win on the ASP Women\u2019s World Tour, having claimed the last three events of the 2008 season, and puts her well on the path to a third consecutive ASP Women\u2019s World Title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a new start for me,\u201d Gilmore said. \u201cTo win on your home turf, in front of all these people, it\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The phenomenal natural-footer has been a perennial event favorite at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast since claiming the title as a 17-year-old wildcard in 2005. Despite her extensive local knowledge, Gilmore had failed to secure a solid result at home since beginning her ASP Dream Tour campaign until today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis win is definitely more satisfying,\u201d Gilmore said. \u201cIn 2005, I was blown away. I couldn\u2019t believe I achieved it, but this time around it\u2019s pleasing to know that I\u2019ve come off a season as world champ, and I\u2019ve done some training, so to come back out here today and win makes you feel really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bartels struggled to secure a scoring wave in the first half of the Final, only able to a post 7.50 out of a possible 10 with under five minutes to go.<\/p>\n
“I am ecstatic right now,\u201d Bartels said. \u201cSurfing against Steph (Gilmore) in a heat is always a challenge for me. I know how good she is. I knew I needed to put up big scores, but no waves came through. She surfed unreal and I am just glad that I got to surf Snapper with one other person out.”<\/p>\n
Despite the disappointing showing in Final, Bartels\u2019 runner-up finish sees the Hawaiian rocket up the ratings from ASP World No. 7 to No. 2 heading into the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
“To get a good result at the beginning of the year gives momentum to go into the next event and feel a little bit more confident and relaxed,\u201d Bartels said. \u201cI\u2019ll just work on my surfing and see what mistakes I have done in this contest and just hope for the better in the next and try not to make the same mistakes.”<\/p>\n
Coco Ho (HAW), 17, 2009 ASP Women\u2019s World Tour rookie, put on an inspiring performance in the Semifinals, falling just short to eventual runner-up Bartels to finish equal 3rd. <\/p>\n
“It feels good,\u201d Ho said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy for Melanie as well. She was surfing so well out there and got the better of every exchange. With ten minutes remaining, I was just like, \u2019I am out at Snapper with just Mel (Bartels),\u2019 and I am just going to focus on getting as many waves as I can and just push every turn.”<\/p>\n
Paige Hareb (NZL), 18, fellow 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie, had an impressive run at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, before falling to eventual winner Gilmore in Semifinal 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteph (Gilmore) is the local favorite and world champ,\u201d Hareb said. \u201cShe has everything going for her at the moment. It would have been good to meet her in the Final, but I\u2019m still happy with making it to the Semifinals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Requiring only an average score to take the lead in her Semifinal heat, Hareb grabbed a roping righthander with the clock ticking and belted a first turn before getting caught up in her second maneuver.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a little bit disappointed about the last wave which I came off,\u201d Hareb said. \u201cI knew I could have won the heat with that wave.”<\/p>\n
Hareb finished equal 3rd at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast and now sits No. 3 on the 2009 ASP Women\u2019s World Tour ratings.<\/p>\n
Highlights from the Roxy Pro Gold Coast pres. by LG Mobile will be available via www.roxypro.com.au<\/p>\n
The next stop on the 2009 ASP Women\u2019s World Tour is the Rip Curl Women\u2019s Pro presented by Ford New Fiesta at Bells Beach from April 8 \u2013 13, 2009.<\/p>\n
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.07
\n2 \u2013 Melanie Bartels (HAW) 12.50<\/p>\n
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.33 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 12.16
\nSF 2: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 17.34 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 13.27<\/p>\n
CURRENT ASP WOMEN\u2019S WORLD TOUR RATINGS:
\n1 \u2013 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 1200
\n2 \u2013 Melanie Bartels (HAW) 972
\n3 \u2013 Paige Hareb (NZL) 756
\n3 \u2013 Coco Ho (HAW) 756
\n5 \u2013 Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 552
\n5 \u2013 Rebecca Woods (AUS) 552
\n5 \u2013 Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 552
\n5 \u2013 Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 552
\n9 \u2013 Silvana Lima (BRA) 360
\n9 \u2013 Amee Donohoe (AUS) 360
\n9 \u2013 Samantha Cornish (AUS) 360
\n9 \u2013 Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 360
\n9 \u2013 Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 360
\n9 \u2013 Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 360
\n9 \u2013 Alana Blanchard (HAW) 360
\n9 \u2013 Megan Abubo (HAW) 360
\n17 \u2013 Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 180
\n18 \u2013 Layne Beachley (AUS) 0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gilmore Wins Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Takes ASP Women’s World Tour Lead SNAPPER ROCKS, Australia (Sunday, March 8, 2009) \u2013 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, reigning two-time ASP Women\u2019s World Champion, has won the Roxy Pro Gold Coast presented by LG Mobile, defeating Melanie Bartels (HAW), 26, in the Final to claim the inaugural event on … Continue reading “Gilmore Wins Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Takes ASP Women’s World Tour Lead”<\/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-13689","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\/13689","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=13689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}