Carissa Moore (HAW), 20, 2013 Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach champ and current ASP Women’s WCT No. 1.
BELLS BEACH, Victoria/AUS (Monday, April 1, 2013) – Carissa Moore (HAW), 20, has claimed the 2013 Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford over Tyler Wright (AUS), 19, in clean three-to-five foot (1 – 1.5 metre) waves today in front of a capacity crowd at Bells Beach. Today’s win vaults the young Hawaiian back into the lead on the ASP Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT) ratings for the first time in over a year.
“To win Bells is a dream,” Moore said. “As a little kid, you always looked forward to watching it and reading about it. The history and the prestige and the people who have won it are really legendary. To be a part of it now is really special.”
After opening the heat with a 9.57 on her first wave, Moore survived a psychologically-draining 25-minute lull in action before she and Wright battled it out in a final exchange in the dying moments.
“It wasn’t an easy heat,” Moore said. “I was fortunate to get a good score to start, but Tyler (Wright) is really powerful and a really fierce competitor. If she got the waves, it was going to be a challenge. We had a really long lull during the heat and then a little flurry at the end.”
Today’s win marks Moore’s second in a row this season, previously collecting a victory in Western Australia last week, and the Hawaiian now sits in the driver’s seat in this season’s race for the 2013 ASP Women’s World Title.
“It feels great to be a part of the World Title race again this year,” Moore said. “Last year wasn’t the greatest for me and it was an adjustment transitioning from going for a world title to defending one. I learned a lot though and I’m back this year feeling focused with a great support group around me. It’s still early in the season so I’m just going to stay focused on the next event.”
Wright, a standout on last Saturday’s marathon day of competition, was unable to capitalize during her third, consecutive Finals’ berth of the season and drops from ASP WCT No. 1 to ASP WCT No. 2 heading into the fourth event of the season.
“It’s disappointing for sure,” Wright said. “I felt like I was surfing well all week and I really wanted to ring the bell. The waves just didn’t deliver for us though. Congrats to Carissa (Moore) though. She was ripping and I’ll try to go one better at New Zealand.”
The next stop on the 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT) will be the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival in New Zealand from April 3 – 7, 2013.
While the women have finished at Bells for the year, the ASP Top 34 are currently doing battle and LIVE action can be accessed via www.live.ripcurl.com and broadcast live on Fuel TV in Australia and Portugal, ESPN in Brazil and MCS Extreme in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and Africa. You can also watch the event live via the Rip Curl Pro iPhone app, available free in the iTunes App Store.
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS), Nat Young (USA) Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Willian Cardoso (BRA) Heat 3: Raoni Monteiro (BRA), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Adriano de Souza (BRA) Heat 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Jordy Smith (ZAF), Mick Fanning (AUS)
The Rip Curl Pro is presented by FORD with partners the Victorian Government, Momentum Energy, mophie, Tooheys Extra Dry, Jim Beam, Skullcandy, Red Bull, Telstra, Surf Coast Shire, Surfing Life Magazine, Fuel TV, Ozmosis, Nova, CO2 Australia, Coastalwatch Plus and co-managed by Surfing Victoria.
