Hawaii surfer Malia Manuel wins Supergirl Pro competition
Up and coming Hawaii surfer Malia Manuel, 19, won the Association of Surfing Professionals 6-Star Ford Supergirl Pro, beating New Zealand’s Paige Hareb, 23, in three-to-five-foot waves in Oceanside, California Sunday.
Manuel led the Ford Supergirl Pro throughout the event’s entirety, owning the top scores of each round while progressing to the final, where she scored a 9.57 and 7.67 to earn her first victory of the 2013 season.
“The past couple of days, I really had motivation coming off of a tough result at the US Open,” Manuel said in an ASP news release. “I wanted to do well there. It’s good to be in California, it’s like a second home to me. I wanted to get in rhythm and just finally have that push for a good result.”
Manuel is currently No. 12 on the ASP Women’s Championship Tour.
“It felt good to finally have one event where everything came together,” Manuel said. “I’ve had such ups and downs this whole year and I was really confident, but it just never all flowed in one contest. I’m happy it happened here and I’m looking forward to finishing up the year.”
Other Hawaii surfers did well in the competition.
Alessa Quizon, 19, who entered the Ford Supergirl Pro ranked No. 4 on the ASP Women’s World Ranking, earned her career-best result in Oceanside with a shared 3rd place finish. The Hawaiian goofy-footer advanced over fellow Oahu native Coco Ho, 22, in the Quarterfinals, but was unable to surpass Hareb in the semifinal heat.
“I’m really happy that I made it this far,” Quizon said. “This is my first semifinal in a 6-Star QS and I’ve improved so much from last year. I’ve had a few Quarterfinals results as well and I’m feeling confident going in to the rest of the year.”
Kauai surfer Bethany Hamilton made it to the Round of 12, but did not advance into the quarterfinals.
The 2011 ASP women’s world champion Carissa Moore suffered an upset and failed to advance out of the Round of 24 Saturday.
FORD SUPERGIRL PRO FINAL RESULT:
1 – Malia Manuel (HAW) 17.24
2 – Paige Hareb (NZL) 3.37
FORD SUPERGIRL PRO SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) 16.33 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 8.27
SF 2: Paige Hareb (NZL) 12.00 def. Alessa Quizon (HAW) 7.60
FORD SUPERGIRL PRO QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:
QF 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) 12.50 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 8.30
QF 2: Pauline Ado (FRA) 12.37 def. Justine Dupont (FRA) 10.16
QF 3: Alessa Quizon (HAW) 13.77 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 10.30
QF 4: Paige Hareb (NZL) 12.63 def. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 11.84
FORD SUPERGIRL PRO ROUND OF 12 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) 15.03, Pauline Ado (FRA) 13.43, Rebecca Woods (AUS) 5.33
Heat 2: Justine Dupont (FRA) 11.26, Silvana Lima (BRA) 8.47, Anali Gomez (PER) 7.70
Heat 3: Alessa Quizon (HAW) 14.50, Paige Hareb (NZL) 13.57, Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 9.00
Heat 4: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 12.60, Coco Ho (HAW) 10.33, Phillipa Anderson (AUS) 8.50