REIGNING World Champion Stephanie Gilmore has surfed her way past two-time Margaret River winner Courtney Conlogue into the semi finals of the Women's WCT Drug Aware Margaret River Pro.
Gilmore appeared to benefit from better wave selection, surfing strongly on her forehand to put together two scores in the tricky conditions.
Despite holding priority through the last four minutes of the heat and only needing a 5.77, Conlogue could not find a decent wave which ended her chances of winning a third consecutive title in Margaret River.
“I was glad the surf was like this as Courtney looked unbeatable in the great conditions yesterday,” Gilmore said.
“I have now matched my result from the first event on the Gold Coast so making the final from here would be a bonus.”
It was Conlogue’s first loss at Margaret River after she went undefeated on her way to winning the title in 2011 and 2012.
Gilmore will meet Carissa Moore in the semi finals after the 2011 World Champion dominated her quarter final against fellow Hawaiian Coco Ho.
Moore, put together two high scoring waves early on and seemed to handle the tough conditions better than Ho, who struggled to find a scoring wave until the last minute of the heat.
Moore was happy with her win post-heat but said it was tough surfing against one of her good friends in Ho.
“I am glad to go through to the semis as the swell is going to be great on the weekend,” she said.
In the other semi final, world number 2 Sally Fitzgibbons will face fellow Australian Tyler Wright after both comfortably progressed through the quarter finals.
Fitzgibbons had a dominant win over young Hawaiian Alana Blanchard, recording a number of solid scores and taking out the best ride of the day with an 8.67 point wave to easily win her final 15.40 points to 4.77.
“It was challenging out there, but it was really contestable. I had my eyes on the left, but the rights just kept coming my way,” Fitzgibbons said.
“I got up at 5am this morning and got out there to get a feel for how the ocean was connecting which I think really helped.”
Wright scored an eight point ride for her last wave in the quarter final to secure victory against New Zealander Paige Hareb, scoring a beautiful 8 point ride.
“I am super excited to make the finals here, it is a different break and is going to be fun to go against Sally,” Wright said.
Their semi final will be a replay of the classic final from the first World Championship event earlier this month at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast.
In that Final, 18-year-old Wright got the win thanks to a last minute wave, relegating Fitzgibbons to the runner-up position.
The semi final contenders at Margaret River are a repeat of the Gold Coast, with Gilmore, Fitzgibbons, Wright and Moore beginning to separate themselves from the pack in the race for the overall title.
