The opening heat of the morning saw French standout Pauline Ado combat progressive veteran Silvana Lima. The heat hosted a contrast in styles, with Ado’s smooth transitions against Lima’s aggressive attack.
Ado got on the board first, blasting three frontside snaps on a steep right-hander for a 6.33. Lima would take the next set, but failed to capitalize on her second turn, posting a small score. The European quickly extended her lead with a midrange 4, but the Brazilian veteran battled back locking in a 5.17 to get back into the game.
A crucial exchange unfolded with five minutes remaining. Ado bettered her total, adding an additional 5.60 while Lima’s efforts earned a 5.67, short of the score needed to surpass Ado.
The early morning onshore winds died, creating more scoring opportunity for the competitors in Heat 2. Hawaiians Malia Manuel and Alessa Quizon started strong and early. Quizon would open and Manuel shadowed each ride. Judges favored the more powerful vertical backhand snaps of the rookie to the clean carves of Manuel, awarding Quizon a 7.67 that would hold as her top score.
After a brief lull, the back-to-back was back on. In the end, Quizon was able to post another seven-pointer, showing versatility with a two-turn, fins-out combination on her forehand and earning a spot in the Quarterfinals.
Following an explosive Round 2 heat, rookie Nikki Van Dijk and alternate Tatiana Weston-Webb scoured the lineup in search of scores for the first half of the heat. The Australian posted the first substantial score of a 6.00.
The low scoring affair continued, but Van Dijk found a right, blasting a two-turn combination for a 5.00 to solidify the Round 4 win.
Heat 4: Coco Ho (HAW) 15.26 def. Laura Enever (AUS) 13.90
The second Hawaiian-Aussie matchup saw an even pairing of Coco Ho and Laura Enever, both currently ranked 10th in the Women’s elite Tour.
Ho came out of the gates on fire, posting seven scores to Enever’s three in the first half of the heat. Ho closed out each ride with a committed tail-release, adding to her high scores. The 8.33 awarded for her efforts was a heat-high.
Enever, on the other hand, had trouble timing her turns, opening the majority of her waves with a big open carve but coming up on the following section too late to capitalize on the follow up. The Hawaiian used priority in the last two minutes to improve her bottom score to a 6.93, enough to eliminate Enever and advance to the Quarterfinals.
