SNAPPER ROCKS, Queensland/Australia (Saturday, March 5, 2011) – After six, consecutive lay days, the Roxy Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover roared back to life today with the world’s best female surfers contesting Rounds 2 and 3 in building surf at Snapper Rocks.

The opening stop of the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title season, the Roxy Pro Gold Coast saw a return to form for reigning four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 23, who bounced back after an uncharacteristic Round 1 loss to dispatch wildcard Sarah Mason (NZL), 16, in Round 2, before exacting revenge upon rookie gunslinger Tyler Wright (AUS), 16, in Round 3.

“It was a hard heat,” Gilmore said. “It doesn’t get any easier now, especially with them (Enever and Wright) and without the jet skis. It really tests the fitness of all of the girls. It boosted my confidence to win against Sarah Mason and I definitely wasn’t expecting to surf against both Tyler and Laura in Round 3. It was tough.”

Silvana Lima (BRA), 26, two-time ASP Women’s World Runner-Up (2008, 2009), secured the day’s highest heat total, a 15.27 out of a possible 20, during her Round 3 bout against Pauline Ado (FRA), 20, and Sofia Mulanovich (PER), 27. The progressive Brazilian surfed with unparalleled speed and aggression, advancing directly to the Quarterfinals.

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 20, 2010 ASP Women’s World Runner-Up, continued her momentum-building Roxy Pro campaign today, besting opponents Coco Ho (HAW), 19, and Courtney Conlogue (USA), 18, in their Round 3 clash.  To see video highlights click here. Under the new ASP Women’s World Title event format, Round 3 is a three-woman, non-elimination round with the winner advancing directly to the Quarterfinals and second and being relegated to Round 4.

“I’m pretty excited for the Quarterfinals,” Fitzgibbons said. “I paddled for nearly 20 minutes before I got more first good wave. There was a lot of current and the wind was so strong it was hard to hold your position or paddle onto the waves. I was in second place and the other two girls both got waves with a minute to go so I knew I needed another wave. There was ten seconds left when I caught the winning wave which easily gave me enough to take the win and jump the next round into the quarter finals. There’s supposed to be plenty of swell coming, and they will probably run the men in the best conditions seeing that they have the most competitors left, but there should be a little window for us to score some good conditions and get the Snapper we know it for.”

Highlights from the Roxy Pro Gold Coast will be available via http://www.roxypro.com.au

The event will also be broadcast LIVE on free-to-air with One HD.

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Silvana Lima (BRA) 15.27, Pauline Ado (FRA) 14.27, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.43
Heat 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 10.67, Laura Enever (AUS) 9.83, Tyler Wright (AUS) 8.84
Heat 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 11.57, Coco Ho (HAW) 8.67, Courtney Conlogue 7.80
Heat 4: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 12.67, Carissa Moore (HAW) 8.66, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 3.13

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1:Pauline Ado (FRA) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
Heat 2:Laura Enever (AUS) vs. Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
Heat 3:Coco Ho (HAW) vs. Jacqueline Silva (BRA)
Heat 4:Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Courtney Conlogue (USA)