Hawaii's Carissa Moore jumped to the top of the world surfing rankings when she scored her second win of the year in the Beachley Classic.
Moore, 18, has made the final of all four events this year, claiming victories on Gold Coast and at Dee Why.
The Hawaiian defeated 2004 world champion Sofia Mulanovich in the final after coming into the tournament ranked No.2 behind Australia's Sally Fitzgibbons.
Fitzgibbons dropped to second on the world ratings after she was beaten in the semi-finals by Mulanovich.
'Thanks to all the girls for surfing so well this week and pushing me so hard,' Moore said.
'This is a great event and thanks to Layne (Beachley) for being such an inspiration and organising such a great event.'
Fitzgibbons had a nerve-wracking wait at the end of her semi with Mulanovich's last wave of 6.53 calculated well after the final hooter to get the Peruvian home to a 14.03 to 13.6 win.
Australia's other main hope Stephanie Gilmore, the reigning world and Beachley champion, jumped one place in the rankings to four after she was a beaten semi-finalist.
Gilmore fell to Moore after opening up her semi with a 9.6 but her next best wave was a 6.4 while Moore had two solid scores of 8.33 and 8.17 to give her a 16.5 to 16 victory in difficult three-foot waves.
The Gold Coast surfer admits she lost concentration after her big early score.
'I felt like I was surfing really good, it just came down to wave selection in that heat,' Gilmore said.
'I think I got a little too relaxed when I got a really high score. I just let my guard down.'
Source http://www.skynews.com.au/sport/article.aspx?id=609538&vId=2382262
Moore, 18, has made the final of all four events this year, claiming victories on Gold Coast and at Dee Why.
The Hawaiian defeated 2004 world champion Sofia Mulanovich in the final after coming into the tournament ranked No.2 behind Australia's Sally Fitzgibbons.
Fitzgibbons dropped to second on the world ratings after she was beaten in the semi-finals by Mulanovich.
'Thanks to all the girls for surfing so well this week and pushing me so hard,' Moore said.
'This is a great event and thanks to Layne (Beachley) for being such an inspiration and organising such a great event.'
Fitzgibbons had a nerve-wracking wait at the end of her semi with Mulanovich's last wave of 6.53 calculated well after the final hooter to get the Peruvian home to a 14.03 to 13.6 win.
Australia's other main hope Stephanie Gilmore, the reigning world and Beachley champion, jumped one place in the rankings to four after she was a beaten semi-finalist.
Gilmore fell to Moore after opening up her semi with a 9.6 but her next best wave was a 6.4 while Moore had two solid scores of 8.33 and 8.17 to give her a 16.5 to 16 victory in difficult three-foot waves.
The Gold Coast surfer admits she lost concentration after her big early score.
'I felt like I was surfing really good, it just came down to wave selection in that heat,' Gilmore said.
'I think I got a little too relaxed when I got a really high score. I just let my guard down.'
Source http://www.skynews.com.au/sport/article.aspx?id=609538&vId=2382262
