The ASP Women's World Tour 2009 has begun...

ASP image of Sally Fitzgibbons at Duranbah Beach, Australia

Stephanie Gilmore on the hunt for her 3rd World Title

Monday 2nd March 2009 saw the start of the ASP Women's World Tour tornament, held at Duranbah Beach on the Gold Coast of Australia.

With Day 1 underway, the first round was consequently relocated from Snapper Rocks to Duranbah Beach, to make the most of the conditions at this reknowned spot. Yet the surf still only managed to reach a small 2ft in size, which proved to be a difficult first round for some Board Chicks.

However, it was 18 year old, Australian Sally Fitzgibbons who took 1st place, in the first event of eight. Sally achieved 18.77 points out of a total of 20, to take the top spot from Brazilian Silvana Lima (24) and Hawaiian Megan Abudo (31).

Sally was thrilled with her start to the tour and in support of her other female competitors she said... "We're gunning for each other ... in a way... We're all the same age and it's just great to see a couple of upsets."

Meanwhile Stephanie Gilmore is on the hunt for her 3rd ASP Women's World Title, and faces new challenges from rookies such as Alana Blanchard and Bruna Schmitz. The first round saw her achieve 14.17 points. Regarding the surf conditions for the first day Gilmore said:

"The conditions this morning were pretty hard actually - it was really small ... The waves on the Gold Coast have been firing for the past two weeks, so it was a little disappointing, but at the same time there were some fun ones out there."

Yet, Gilmore said she is still "pretty confident and comfortable in any kind of waves on the Gold Coast I guess... I love all the pointbreaks and D-Bah is where I surf everyday. Wherever we are I am looking forward to it."

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 1 RESULTS:Heat 1: Paige Hareb (NZL) 15.06, Samantha Cornish (AUS) 12.10, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 11.50Heat 2: Alana Blanchard (HAW) 15.34, Amee Donohoe (AUS) 12.17, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 9.56Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.17, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 12.03, Ashleigh Smith (AUS) 11.97Heat 4: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 18.77, Silvana Lima (BRA) 18.67, Megan Abubo (HAW) 6.53Heat 5: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 14.60, Coco Ho (HAW) 14.26, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 9.16Heat 6: Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 15.00, Melanie Bartels (HAW) 14.34, Rebecca Woods (AUS) 14.23

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:Heat 1: Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Jacqueline Silva (BRA), Ashleigh Smith (AUS)Heat 2: Rebecca Woods (AUS), Jessi Miley Dyer (AUS), Megan Abubo (HAW) ... For more info check out http://www.aspworldtour.com/