Hawaii’s Quizon, Moore win heats in season opener

COOLANGATTA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA » Honolulu’s Alessa Quizon won the opening heat of the ASP World Championship Tour’s season-opening Roxy Pro on Friday.

Quizon, a tour rookie, won the heat with a two-wave total of 12.93, beating out local favorite Stephanie Gilmore. She drew an interference penalty on Gilmore on her first wave, executing an explosive series of backhand turns to earn a 7.93 and effectively wrap up the heat.

"Steph knows how to surf this wave and I thought ‘of course I had to draw her in heat one of my rookie year,’ " Quizon said. "I went into the heat super nervous, I was shaking and falling on my first few waves. … Winning that heat takes a lot of pressure off."

Quizon joined defending world champion Carissa Moore as Hawaii surfers who won opening-round heats Friday, after Moore dominated her session with a 15.57 combined score that included a near-perfect 9.0, the round’s highest-scoring ride.

Kauai’s Malia Manuel finished second behind Moore in Heat 3 with a 12.96, and Kauai’s Alana Blanchard and Honolulu’s Coco Ho finished third in their respective heats.

Moore and Quizon advanced through to the third round, while Ho and Manuel were set to square off in Round 2, and Blanchard was to face Santa Barbara, Calif., surfer Lakey Peterson.

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