Heather Clark wins SunSmart title
10 April 2003
South Africa'sHeather Clark, surfing in great conditions at Margaret River in Western Australia, won the SunSmart Women's Classic. Clark, who finished last year rated number-six on the women's ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), earned her fourth career victory by defeating good friend and three-time consecutive SunSmart Women's Classic champion Melanie Redman-Carr.
The lone international surfer caught the first wave and posted the
final's top score of 7.33-points on a clean right-hander. She later changed
equipment after creasing her surfboard, but still locked in another good
lefthander to seal the comfortable victory. The Port Shepstone surfer
walked away with $2 000 in prize money and added 250 ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) points to her 2003 tally.
"It's always hard coming up against Mel here, as she'd won three times
already," said Clark. "I've been coming over for a couple of years trying
to win it, but this year got a good start
with that first right-hander. Mel's my friend, but I'm glad I beat her."
"It's a good confidence boost before going over to Fiji and Tahiti," she
added, of the upcoming WCT events. "That's why I enjoy coming over. I like
surfing the spots around here, but it's a good warm up to the lefts we'll be
surfing."
Redman-Carr, the world number-three and favorite leading into the decider, snapped her board and was out of position a number of times. Despite only
requiring a 6.51 towards the end, she came up short on her final ride.
"I had the waves to win but didn't, so I've got no one to blame but myself," acknowledged Redman-Carr. "I figured either Heather or myself would win, but I'm still happy since we got good waves."
Fellow West Australian Claire Bevilacqua, who currently leads the ASP Australasian Junior Circuit placed third, while former world grommet champion Laurina McGrath finished fourth.
(Source: ASP Africa)
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