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Hawaiian Carissa Moore has claimed her third women’s World Surf League title and celebrated in style with the best competition barrel of her life in a spectacular victory over Australian Sally Fitzgibbons in the final of the Maui Pro.
Moore was guaranteed her third world crown when American Courtney Conlogue was defeated in the fourth round of the season-ending event on Wednesday by local star Coco Ho.
But Moore was not finished yet, taking full advantage of perfect conditions at Honolua Bay to down Fitzgibbons in the final with her first perfect-10 wave of the year.
“I’m so blessed, that was so much fun,” said Moore.
“That’s probably the best barrel I’ve ever got in a contest. That was so cool.
“I definitely have to put it up there (as one of my best days). Getting the perfect waves and to have it all unfold as it did and just to be able to enjoy the surfing and be with my family and my friends.
“It was just an incredible day and I’m just so extremely thankful.”
Such was the quality of her performance in the final, Moore was able to throw away 9.30 and 8.63 waves, with her best two efforts being scored at 10 and 9.50 by the judges.
“I’ve got to give the wave a lot of credit, it pretty much did the work for me. I just had to stand there,” she said.
“I was almost cheering for myself on the way out.”
The win moved Moore past $US1 million ($A1.37 million) in career prize money, and also elevated her to seventh on the list of all-time victories with 19 career wins.
But there was only one figure that mattered in the end – the 66,200 points she racked up in 2015 to make her No.1.
The championship, Moore’s third in five years, also continues the stranglehold she and Australian Stephanie Gilmore have on the world title.
No other female surfer has won the title since 2007, and Gilmore finished second behind Moore in the opening two events of the year before injuring her knee at the third stop of the WSL tour at Margaret River.
The victory made Moore the seventh women to win three or more world championships, having previously topped the ratings in 2011 and 2013.
Fitzgibbons’ second-place finish was enough for her to wrap up third spot in the rankings after she registered scores of 9.23 and 8.67 in the top-class final.
“I wanted to come into this event with a lot of fire and surf freely,” she said.
“It wasn’t a disappointment for me, I feel like I’m surfing well and getting some momentum for next year.”
Moore also warned that the 24-year-old Australian would be a surfer to beat in the future.
“She’s on fire, I think we’ve all got to watch out for her next year,” she said.
Fitzgibbons finished 8,400 points clear of South African Bianca Buitendag, while Aussie Tyler Wright – who was knocked out in the Maui Pro quarter-finals by Moore – was 400 points further back in fifth spot overall
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