LOS ANGELES, CA/USA: The final stop on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP Women's World Championship Tour (WCT), the Target Maui Pro presented by Schick Hydro Silk, gets underway next week. The event will be held from November 22 through December 6, 2014 at the world-class pointbreak of Honolua Bay and will see a culmination to this season’s thrilling ASP World Title race.
“Maui as the season-ender to the elite women’s schedule is a great way finish an unbelievable year,” Jessi Miley-Dyer, ASP Womens’ Commissioner, said. “Honolua Bay is truly a world-class wave and the Target Maui Pro is the perfect place to conclude the most exciting title race in the history of women’s surfing.”
Having been a regular stop on the women’s Tour from 1999 until 2009, Maui returns to the schedule this year and the event will determine the 2014 ASP Women’s World Champion. The world’s best female surfers will travel to the region for the last contest of the season, but only three remain in contention to take the Title in Maui: Australians Stephanie Gilmore, Sally Fitzgibbons and Tyler Wright. The trio will battle the waves, and each other, for the coveted prize.
Current ASP World No. 1, Gilmore, is defending event winner, having claimed consecutive victories in Maui in 2007, 2008 and 2009, more than any other surfer. The five-time champion will be looking to continue her winning streak at Honolua Bay this year and clinch her sixth world title. Gilmore sits atop the rankings with three WCT wins this year - the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, the Swatch Women’s Pro Trestles and, most recently, the Cascais Women’s Pro - and is guaranteed the Title if she secures a Finals berth in Maui.
Only Fitzgibbons and Wright can stop Gilmore, but both would need to take first place at the Target Mau Pro to steal the Title. With two event wins each this season - Fitzgibbons took back-to-back wins in Rio and Fiji while Wright claimed victory at the Vans US Open of Surfing and the Roxy Pro France - they sit in second and third place respectively on the WCT rankings.
ASP World Title scenarios:
- Only Fitzgibbons and Gilmore can win the World Title without a surf-off.
- If Gilmore makes the Final, she will win the World Title.
- If Fitzgibbons wins the event and Gilmore finishes in third place they will be tied.
- If Fitzgibbons wins the event and Gilmore finishes in fifth place, Fitzgibbons wins the World Title.
- If Wright wins the event and Gilmore finishes fifth or below then they will be tied.
- In the event of a tie there will be a surf-off for the World Title, per ASP rules.
The Target Maui Pro also offers valuable points for those surfers looking to requalify for next year’s Tour. Only the top ten finishers on the 2014 WCT rankings will join the Top 17 in 2015. The remaining places will be awarded to the top six finishers on the ASP Qualifying Series (QS) rankings (barring those who’ve qualified through the WCT) plus an ASP wildcard.
Paige Alms (HAW) has been selected as the wildcard for the Target Maui Pro and she will join the ASP Top 17 to complete the field for the event. Alms, a former QS campaigner, is a Maui native and her knowledge of Honolua Bay and big wave prowess poses her as a real threat to her competitors. She will face Gilmore and fellow Hawaiian Coco Ho in Round 1.
The Target Maui Pro will also see the first all-female GoPro Challenge. The Top 17 female competitors are invited to submit their own GoPro videos taken either during the contest at Honolua Bay or from anywhere in Hawaii between November 15 through December 6. The winner will be announced on December 7 and will receive $15,000 if the clip is captured during a heat at the Target Maui Pro or $10,000 if the clip is from a free surf.
The winning video will be selected by a panel of five judges -- three from ASP and two from GoPro -- based on cinematography, degree of difficulty of shooting, perspective and overall beauty and lighting.
Watch all the action from the Target Maui Pro LIVE at ASPWorldTour.com.
Target Maui Pro Round 1 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW), Johanne Defay (FRA), Pauline Ado (FRA)
Heat 2: Carissa Moore (HAW), Courtney Conlogue (USA), Alessa Quizon (HAW)
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Coco Ho (HAW), Paige Alms (HAW)
Heat 4: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Dimity Stoyle (AUS), Alana Blanchard (HAW)
Heat 5: Tyler Wright (AUS), Laura Enever (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL)
Heat 6: Lakey Peterson (USA), Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)
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