And now, here’s the Roxy Pro semifinalists

Directing a contest ain’t easy. Do we run? Don’t we? This morning, with the swell having remained the same overnight on the Gold Coast, the Quiksilver Pro was put on hold. Then the Roxy Pro was sent out to cut through the quarterfinals. Tyler Wright and Courtney Conlogue took some heavy drops and paid for it in the first heat. Then Steph Gilmore paddled out and got a 9.80 for an excellent barrel. “It’s tricky out there this morning but every now and then, there’s an incredible one so that was a good heat,” Steph said. “I always flashback to all the greats out at Kirra and I think Mick was and still is one of the best. I think I was pretending I was Mick for a moment there in the tube. Just for a moment though.” Two more heats rolled out, including a Carissa Moore and Pauline Ado match-up, in which Riss came out better. “The tide was getting really low for Pauline and my heat,” said Riss. “I had to make some adjustments and it became more about turns and less about barrels but I’m happy to get through the heat. Hopefully we get improved conditions to finish in.” Carissa will take on Sally Fitz when competition resumes. But, who knows what’ll happen tomorrow a.m. – you’ll just have to tune in here to see if the men, or women, run at Kirra, or Rainbow. So many variables! ROXY PRO GOLD COAST QUARTERFINAL RESULTS: QF 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.50 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 7.94QF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 12.97 def. Alana Blanchard (HAW) 5.06QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.20 def. Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 1.50QF 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.00 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 8.37 ROXY PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINAL MATCH-UPS: SF 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) vs. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)SF 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) vs. Carissa Moore (HAW) QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS: Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Brent Dorrington (AUS)Heat 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)Heat 5: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)Heat 6: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)Heat 7: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)Heat 8: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Nat Young (USA)Heat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)Heat 10: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Filipe Toledo (BRA)Heat 11: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Glenn Hall (IRL)Heat 12: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)