Moore surfs to Roxy Pro France title
Hawaii’s Carissa Moore captured the Roxy Pro France championship Saturday in the second to last World Surf League event of the year in Hossegor, France.
The three-time world champion wrapped up the contest with a 16.70 to 14.50 win over Lakey Peterson of Santa Barbara, Calif., in clean 3- to 5-foot surf.
The win moved Moore up three spots on the WSL women’s rankings to No. 4. She will be chasing No. 1 Sally Fitzgibbons, No. 2 and defending world champ Tyler Wright, both of Australia, and No. 3 Courtney Conlogue of Huntington Beach, Calif., in the WSL finale, the Maui Women’s Pro at Honolua Bay, Nov. 25 to Dec. 6.
Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore, a six-time world champ, is also in contention for the 2017 tour championship.
In the Quiksilver Pro France men’s contest Saturday, Brazil’s Gabriel Medina surfed to victory.
Medina, who won a world title in 2014, defeated Hawaii’s Sebastian Zietz in the final, 16.00 to 9.30.
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Medina took down Hawaii’s John John Florence, the defending men’s world champ, 16.40 to 16.00 in a semifinal matchup.
With his quarterfinal finish, Florence moved past South Africa’s Jordy Smith to No. 1 in the men’s rankings. Medina is No. 3, and five others are in contention for the 2017 title — No. 4 Owen Wright, No. 5 Julian Wilson and No. 6 Matt Wilkinson of Australia, and No. 7 Adriano de Souza and No. 8 Filipe Toledo of Brazil.
Two contests remain on the men’s world tour — the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal (Oct. 20-31) and the Billabong Pipeline Pro (Dec. 8-20) at Ehukai Beach on Oahu’s North Shore.
The Billabong Pipeline Pro is also the finale of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing that also includes the Hawaiian Pro (Nov. 12-24) at Alii Beach Park in Haleiwa and the Vans World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25 to Dec. 6) at Sunset Beach. The latter two contests do not have a bearing on the world title chase.