Surfing: Tactics lead to surf success

Sally Fitzgibbons won the Subaru Pro yesterday. Photo / Kirstin Sholtz

Australian surfer Sally Fitzgibbons got her tactics spot on to defeat defending champion Hawaiian Carissa Moore in the final of the Subaru Pro at New Plymouth's Back Beach yesterday - and go top of the ASP rankings.

Fitzgibbons chose to head to the right of the competition arena where she recorded two 8.0 waves for a combined score of 16, while Moore began on the left but could only record one wave of note, a 6.63, for a combined total of 6.86.

Fitzgibbons had been on form all week, registering five scores over 8.0 in one heat earlier in the TSB Bank Women's Surf Festival and the highest combined wave score of 19.0. The 20-year-old pockets $18,500 and 10,000 competition points for her victory and is now No 1 in the ASP rankings on 26,500 - 500 ahead of Moore and 6800 ahead of Tyler Wright in third.

Fitzgibbons said: "It means absolutely the world - I'm just so stoked to get a win in New Zealand. I loved coming here last year and I got the runner-up and making the final again I was just happy with that performance."

"It reminds me of home - the countryside meets the sea vibe. To have my best friends here and my friends on the tour cheer me up the beach just means so much." New Zealand hope Paige Hareb bowed out in the quarter-finals after she could manage just 8.73 points to Hawaiian Coco Ho's 13.4. The light winds and one metre to 1.5 metre conditions suited natural footer Ho better than Hareb, a goofy footer.

Earlier, Hareb, who is still wearing strapping for a rib injury, easily beat Hawaii's Melanie Bartels in the repechage fourth round, scoring 13.0 to top Bartels' 8.15.