- 2019-05-25
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SPORTS
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World Surf League: Kanoa Igarashi and Stephanie Gilmore Win Corona Bali Protected
Men's and Women's Championship Tour the 3rd stop, Corona Bali Protected took place at Keramas beach in Bali, Indonesia.
In Men's event, Japanese competitor Kanoa Igarashi claimed his first CT event title after taking down a stacked field of veterans, including 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater (USA) in the Semifinals, Adrian Buchan (AUS) in the Quarterfinals, and Jeremy Flores (FRA) in the Final.
“It all makes sense,” Kanoa Igarashi said. “All of the hard work you do makes sense after this. My first round was so terrible. I didn’t catch any waves and I was just thinking what is the point of all of the hard work you do, all of the one percenters, all of the time in the gym, all of the time alone and surfing alone and now it all makes sense. This means so much to me. I can’t even find words to describe it.”
“Every heat meant a lot to me and I wanted to give my all no matter who I was up against,” he continued. “No matter what the conditions were like, I just wanted to adapt to the conditions and throw everything at it. From the first round to the Final, I surfed the same but then I feel like in the Final I peaked and I did everything right. Sharing the Final with Jeremy (Flores) was an honor and that Semifinal with Kelly (Slater) was so good. Every heat gave me so much purpose to do my best and to now have my first CT win this early in my career…it means so much.”- Meanwhile, Women's CT, 7-time World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) defeated Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) with perfect 10 point ride in the Final.
This result marks she took the 30th CT victory of her career and moved up to top of the Jeep Leaderboard replacing Caroline Marks (USA).
“I can’t believe this, I just can’t,” Stephanie Gilmore said. “I knew Sally (Fitzgibbons) was going to be out there looking for barrels, but I just had to stick to my game plan and find the right waves and make the best out of them. At the end, I was thinking ‘Just get the excellent range’ because I haven’t really done that all event and I just kept thinking about then pulled the trigger on that one and just closed my eyes and held my line and then I came up. It was so cool.”
“I didn’t know that it was possible for me to go to the top of the rankings, so I’m so stoked with that,” she continued. “I was wearing yellow this week and painted my nails yellow so I made my intentions pretty clear. I don’t know what Margaret River is going to deliver, but I’ll be going there to do my best and just hope I can hold on to the yellow Jeep Leader Jersey all year. This is just amazing.”
Corona Bali Protected Men’s Final Results:
F 1: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 15.10 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.63
Corona Bali Protected Men’s Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.43 def. Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 12.00
SF 2: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 15.07 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 13.84
Corona Bali Protected Men’s Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 10.20 def. Wade Carmichael (AUS) 9.93
QF 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.47 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 10.00
QF 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.30 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 10.53
QF 4: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 11.17 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.10
Corona Bali Protected Women’s Final Results:
F 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.83 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 7.00
Corona Bali Protected Women’s Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 15.07 def. Brisa Hennessy (CRI) 12.86
SF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 11.74 def. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 7.80
Corona Bali Protected Women’s Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Brisa Hennessy (CRI) 15.70 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.40
QF 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.60 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 12.90
QF 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.40 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 12.57
QF 4: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 11.77 def. Bronte Macaulay (AUS) 11.66- source : World Surf League
