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Photo Credit is ASP / Cestari

Sunset Beach, Oahu/Hawaii (Wednesday, November 24, 2010) – The opening day of the O’Neill Women’s World Cup, the second jewel of the Vans Triple Crown and final stop on the ASP Women’s World Tour, saw the top seeds dominate their Round 1 heats in firing six-to-eight foot (2 metre) surf at the world famous pointbreak of Sunset Beach on Oahu’s North Shore.

With Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 22, wrapping up the ASP Women’s World Title in Puerto Rico, competitors are battling for the ratings points towards the Vans Triple Crown title and requalification for the 2011 ASP Dream Tour.

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, current No. 2 on the ASP Women’s World Tour and a finalist at last year’s event, donated a strong performance in her opening O’Neill Women’s World Cup heat, putting the field in need of a combination of two scores by earning the day’s highest single-wave score of an 8.50 before clinching the highest heat total of a 14.83 out of 20 with crisp rail-to-rail surfing to advance to the Quarterfinals.

“We’ve got really good conditions out here today,” Fitzgibbons said. “I just got in a good rhythm out there and I’m happy to move through. It’s all about timing and I think I’ve gained a lot of confidence from last year.”

Fitzgibbons, was runner-up at the Sunset event in 2009 and has three runner-up finishes on the 2010 season, is hungry to wrap up her year with a win at the O’Neill Women’s World Cup and better her standing on the Vans Triple Crown.

“It’s a long way to go, but I love surfing at Sunset and having some bigger waves,” Fitzgibbons said. “We haven’t really had many big waves this year on tour and it’s good to break out the big boards and have a crack. I’d love to make a final here again and help my Triple Crown cause.”
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