Rosanne Hodge, South Africa’s lone representative on the ASP Women’s World Tour, placed second in her opening heat of the Mancora Peru Classic on Wednesday to advance directly to Round 3 of the R560 000 event, the first to be run on the Pacific coast of South America.
Competing in 0.5 to one metre waves in the first heat of the contest, the East London based rookie finished behind Australian Jessie Miley-Dyer and ahead of 2005 World Champion Chelsea Hedges (AUS) who was relegated to Round 2.
Sofia Mulanovich dominated proceedings in the left-breaking waves, posting a brace of 8.0 point scores to leave her opponents, veteran Hawaiian campaigners Megan Abubo and Rochelle Ballard, comboed before wrapping up a comprehensive heat victory with a 9.25 in the dying minutes.
Mulanovich, who became the first South American women to win a world surfing title when she claimed the 2004 ASP World Title, was instrumental in securing the event in her home country where she is hugely popular.
Reigning World Champion and current World No. 6, Layne Beachley, was only other top seeded competitor to win her opening round heat, recording the second highest heat total of the day (14.75 out of 20) in defeating fellow Australian Rebecca Woods and Caroline Sarran (FRA).
Top seed and current World No. 2 Silvana Lima (BRA) and No. 4 Samantha Cornish (AUS) both placed third in their respective heats and join Hedges in Round 2. There the top two surfers in each of the three-person heats advance to Round 3 with the third placed surfer eliminated from the event in equal 17th place with US $2 500 (approx. R17 500) and 180 ratings points.
Current ratings leader Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) placed second behind Brazilian Jacqueline Silva to maintain her challenge to win the world title in her rookie season. The 19 year-old from Tweed Heads, NSW, holds a slender 82 point lead over Lima with the Peru event pus two more in Hawaii remaining.
South Africa’s Hodge was rated 14th coming into this event, 230 points behind Silva who currently occupies the cutoff spot amongst the top 10 that automatically re-qualify for the 2008 elite tour.
Hodge needs to overtake Silva, Abubo and Melanie Bartels (HAW) to get into the top 10 to qualify as she is to is out of contention for one of the six qualifying spots on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) ratings where she holds 23rd place with only one event still to be completed.
All the action from the Mancora Peru Classic, which has a waiting period that extends until Sunday 4 November, can be followed live via webcasts at the ASP World Tour website. Organizers and competitors will convene on Thursday at 7am for a possible 7:30am start. (2pm for 2.30pm SA Time)
Round 2 Match-Ups:
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