The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, the third stop on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour, has been called OFF for the day due to high onshore winds.
“We had come down this morning hoping the wind would be better than it is,” said Kieren Perrow, WSL Commissioner. “It is really onshore and stronger than we had hoped, so we are not going to run any heats. We thought about waiting around a little bit longer today, but it is going to stay bumpy. Once you have three days of an onshore wind here, it makes the ocean turn pretty ordinary. We will come back tomorrow. We are expecting the wind to be really good tomorrow and the swell to build, so we will have a great couple of days to finish.”
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 6:30 am to assess the conditions and make the next call.
The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro will see intense battles in Men’s Round 4 and the Women’s Quarterfinals when competition get back underway.
Gabriel Medina (BRA), 2014 WSL Champion, will battle Kolohe Andino (USA) andJordy Smith (ZAF) in Round 4 Heat 3.
Caio Ibelli (BRA), the last 2016 WSL rookie standing in this event, will face Italo Ferreira (BRA) and injury replacement Sebastian Zietz (HAW) in Round 4 Heat 4.
Men’s Round 4 will also see the all-Australian match-up between CT heavyweights Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Joel Parkinson (AUS) and Julian Wilson (AUS).
Injury replacement Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) will attempt to continue his streak of upsets when he faces goofy-footers Nat Young (USA) and Adrian Buchan (AUS) in Heat 2.
When the women’s competition resumes, Heat 2 of the Women’s Quarterfinals will seeCourtney Conlogue (USA), current World No. 1 and defending event Champion, battle against Laura Enever (AUS). Carissa Moore (HAW), three-time WSL Champion and last year’s event runner-up, will face Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) in Heat 3.
Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), runner-up at the 2016 Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach, will battle for a spot in the Semifinals against the 2015 Rookie of the Year, Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW), in Heat 1.
The Women’s Quarterfinals will also see a rematch between six-time WSL ChampionStephanie Gilmore (AUS) and Tyler Wright (AUS) in Heat 4. Wright knocked out Gilmore on the Gold Coast, but the two will battle again for the opportunity to stay in contention for the event win when competition gets back underway.
Surfline, official forecaster for the World Surf League, is calling for:
Thursday will see a gradual building trend through the day, although onshore wind looks likely to continue. The swell building Thursday afternoon will peak Friday morning in the medium size range (similar to what we saw last weekend) as offshore flow also looks likely to continue. Reinforcing and slightly larger SW swell builds through Saturday as offshore flow continues. Smaller, fading swell looks likely for Sun/Mon as onshore flow returns. Another medium size SW swell looks possible for the last couple days of the event waiting period, although onshore flow also looks likely at this time. The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro will be webcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com as well as the WSL app.
The event is also being carried by our LIVE broadcast partners Fox Sports Australia, CBS Sports in the United States, ESPN Brasil, Globosat, Edgesport, Sky NZ, Sport TV, Canal + Deportes, Channel Nine, MCS, Starhub, and Oceanic Time Warner Cable 250 & 1250 in Hawaii.
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