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Lay Day for Pipeline Masters BUT – Final Day for Billabong Pro Maui ON

Samantha Cornish (AUS), 29, was a standout yesterday at Honolua Bay. photo: ASP/ CI/ SCHOLTZ via GETTY IMAGES
Samantha Cornish (AUS), 29, was a standout yesterday at Honolua Bay. photo: ASP/ CI/ SCHOLTZ via GETTY IMAGES

Billabong Pro Maui presented Hawaiian Airlines
Stop No. 7 of 7 on the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour
Honolua Bay, Maui/Hawaii
December 8 – 20, 2009

HONOLUA BAY, Maui/Hawaii – The last of seven stops on the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour season, the Billabong Pro Maui presented by Hawaiian Airlines, is on this morning in good six foot (2 metre) conditions at Maui’s iconic pointbreak of Honolua Bay and will crown a champion by day’s end.

The culmination for the ASP Women’s World Tour season plays a critical role in several surfers’ campaigns towards requalification for the 2010 ASP Women’s Dream Tour. The Billabong Pro Maui also represents the final event of the Vans Triple Crown, which boasts an additional prize purse of $25,000 to this year’s winner.

Due to a compromising interference by a non-competitor in the Heat 8 of Round 3 yesterday, this morning’s action will rerun the heat and follow through with Quarterfinals, eventually crowning the 2009 Billabong Pro Maui and Vans Triple Crown champion by day’s end.

“We’ve got good six foot waves today and we want to capitalize on this swell, so we’ll crown a champion this afternoon,” Rodney Kilborn, Billabong Pro Maui Contest Director, said.

Yesterday’s action saw three-time ASP Women’s World Champion and two-time Billabong Pro Maui champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, clinch the day’s highest heat total while overtaking the Vans Triple Crown Ratings. ASP Women’s World No. 2 Silvana Lima (BRA), 25, was also a leader in yesterday’s competition, earning the day’s only perfect 10-point ride with a throttling barrel.

The Billabong Pro Maui will begin at 8am local time. For live scores, heats on demand, photos, video and more, log on to www.triplecrownofsurfing.com or www.billabongpro.com

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com

Billabong Pro Maui pres. By Hawaiian Airlines Quarterfinal Match-Ups:

QF 1: Coco Ho (HAW) vs. Sally Fitzgibbons (HAW)

QF 2: Samantha Cornish (AUS) vs. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)

QF 3: Silvana Lima (BRA) vs. Melanie Bartels (HAW)

QF 4: Rebecca Woods (AUS) vs. TBD