Wednesday Men’s round 3-4 ON! GO HERE
Tuesday: Victory in Rising poor to fair 3-5′ surf for the later heats. Full story coming. “Im hungry, Im tired… its was hard, I really am happy…(laughs)”
See new ratings below.
Tyler Wright (AUS) Def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) Final: All Australian Final in Brazil sees Tyler Wright continue her incredible start to the year winning her 3rd event (out of 4) and juggernauts to world number 1 on the rankings for 2016. Fitzgibbons moves to world number 5 as the ladies now head to one of the most exciting and testing events on the tour in Fiji next week for the 5th event where Fitzgibbons is the defending event champion.
Courtney Conlogue (USA/Cal/SantaAna): Placed equal 3rd in Brazil, defeated in her SemiFinal by Sally Fitzgibbons. Conlogue slips on the Rankings from number 1 to number 2 behind event winner Tyler Wright (AUS)
Cariss Moore (Hawaii): Placed =3rd in Brazil defeated in her Semifinal by eventual event winner Tyler Wright (AUS). It was Moore’s 4th consecutive SemiFinal for the 2016 season and the reigning World Champion is searching for a win going into Fiji next week.
Johanne Defay (France): Placed equal 5th in Brazil going down in her Quarterfinal to eventual event winner Tyler Wright of Australia. Defay now heads to Fiji next week for one of her favourite events on the tour.
BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (Tuesday, May 17, 2016) – A heated final day at the Oi Rio Women’s Pro, the fourth stop on the Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour, saw Tyler Wright (AUS) claim victory at Barra da Tijuca defeating Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) in a hard-fought Final.
The win today in Rio is Wright’s third of the season, following previous triumphs on the Gold Coast and at Bells Beach. Back-to-back event wins see her take first place on the Jeep Leaderboard and Wright will wear the leader jersey at the upcoming Fiji Women’s Pro. Wright previously dispatched Carissa Moore (HAW) and Johanne Defay (FRA) en route to the Final today.
“This is the best I’ve ever felt,” Wright said. “Over the last six months so many things have happened and it has given me a lot of perspective on the way I want to run my career and surf my heats. I want to say a massive thanks to my family. They make it all worthwhile.”
The all-Australian Final match-up saw a close battle between Wright and Fitzgibbons. Showcasing her power surfing and control, Wright set the bar early on by dropping an excellent 8.67. Wright continued to back up her opening ride, putting pressure on Fitzgibbons to land another solid score. With ten minutes left on the clock, Fitzgibbons hammered a critical section to earn 7.17 and begin to close the gap on Wright. In the closing minutes Fitzgibbons was left searching for 5.94 while massive sets out the back pushed the athletes further from the take-off. Fitzgibbons was out of position to attempt a final attack and Wright, with a 13.10 two-wave score, defeated Fitzgibbons by 2.76 points to take the win.
Today is the second Final berth for Fitzgibbons this season, who also finished runner-up at Bells Beach. The result will see the two-time Rio event winner move up one place on the Jeep Leaderboard from 6th to 5th. To reach the Final Fitzgibbons took downCourtney Conlogue (USA) and Malia Manuel (HAW).
2015 event winner Courtney Conlogue (USA) will relinquish the Jeep Leader Jersey after being defeated by Fitzgibbons in Semifinal 1. With an event win at Bells Beach and runner-up finishes on the Gold Coast and at Margaret River, today’s result marks Conlogue’s first absence from the Finals this season and sees her move to 2nd place on the Jeep Leaderboard.
The bout between Conlogue and Fitzgibbons saw multiple lead changes, as both surfers put everything on the line to advance to the Finals. Fitzgibbons held onto a 14.10 heat score, leaving Conlogue to chase a 6.61. In the dying seconds of the heat, Conlogue had one last opportunity to post the required score, but could not stick the landing.
Wright took down Carissa Moore (HAW), reigning three-time WSL Champion, in Semifinal 2. Moore has yet to secure a spot in the Finals this season, with a Semifinal finish at each event of the season so far. The World Champion will head into Fiji in third place on the Jeep Leaderboard.
Wright opened up Semifinal 2 against Moore with a huge frontside hook to earn an 8.77, the highest score of the heat and the Semifinal match-ups. Wright controlled the Semifinal with a 13.60 two-wave score, forcing Moore to chase a 7.68. Moore was not able to find the waves to combat Wright.
Six-time WSL Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) was eliminated in the Quarterfinals by Moore. The heat marked the seventeenth head-to-head match-up between the two CT superstars, adding a tenth win to Moore’s tally. The Hawaiian got off to a quick start to lock in an excellent 8.77 and continued to better her heat total with a 7.07. Caught in a combination situation, Gilmore struggled to find the scores to close the gap on Moore. Gilmore will walk away with a 5th place finish and moves down one place to 6th on the Jeep Leaderboard.
Oi Rio Women’s Pro Final Results:
1 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.10
2 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 10.34
Oi Rio Women’s Pro Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.10 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 14.00
SF 2: Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.60 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 10.10
2016 Samsung Galaxy Top 5 (after Oi Rio Women’s Pro):
| 1 | 1 |
 Tyler WrightAUS |
35,200 | 110,000 Points |
55,200 Points |
110,000 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $133,250 |
| 2 | -1 | 32,500 | 28,000 Points |
110,000 Points |
28,000 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $120,000 | |
| 3 | – | 26,000 | 36,500 Points |
36,500 Points |
36,500 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $54,750 | |
| 4 | – | 23,400 | 55,200 Points |
36,500 Points |
36,500 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $49,750 | |
| 5 | 1 | 22,950 | 131,750 Points |
28,000 Points |
55,200 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $52,250 | |
| 6 | -1 | 20,800 | 55,200 Points |
55,200 Points |
55,200 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $39,750 | |
| 7 | – | 18,650 | 36,500 Points |
55,200 Points |
131,750 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $40,500 | |
| 8 | – |
Malia ManuelHAW |
17,000 | 55,200 Points |
93,300 Points |
93,300 Points |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | $34 |
Oi Rio Pro Men’s Round 3 Match-Ups for tomorrow:
Heat 1: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 3: Nat Young (USA) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 4: Caio Ibelli (BRA) vs. Ryan Callinan (AUS)
Heat 5: Stuart Kennedy (AUS) vs. Davey Cathels (AUS)
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Lucas Silveira (BRA)
Heat 7: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Marco Fernandez (BRA)
Heat 8: Kanoa Igarashi (USA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 9: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Jack Freestone (HAW)
Heat 11: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Matt Banting (AUS)
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Deivid Silva (BRA)
For more information, check out WorldSurfLeague.com.
