SURFING –
Central Coast surfer, Molly Picklum, has opened the World Surf League’s (WSL) Margaret River Pro in Western Australia with a high-quality Round 1 win, advancing straight into the Round of 16.
After this fifth event in the Championship Tour (CT), only the top nine-ranked women will continue into the second half of the season, calling on Molly to improve on previous results and shoot up from her current 16th place.
Defeating seven-time WSL Champion, Stephanie Gilmore, and former Margaret River event winner, Lakey Peterson, on Monday, April 25 was the perfect start for Picklum.
Staying patient throughout a couple of low-score attempts from her competitors, Molly launched into the lead with a quickfire rail turn to the right, landing the manoeuvre from wave lip to base to score 5.67.
Holding onto the lead with a couple of low to mid-range scores, Molly reached her two-wave total of 11.34 in the final ten minutes of the heat, scoring 5.67 again with another move to the right, soaking up four turns along the wave.
This was enough to earn the heat win, with Gilmore second on 11.00. But Picklum will need to preserve her top form in the latter end of the competition to keep her CT dream alive.
“That was a dream heat for me,” Picklum said. “To verse two women like that in Lakey and Steph was inspiring, to be honest. I got here early to practice and it seemed to help. I hope I looked like I knew what I was doing.
“My goal for this year was to make the cut and be at every stop on Tour so I really need to do well here at this event and get up on top of the cutline.
“That start was a great one for my confidence. It was almost like surfing a final but it was my opening heat.”
The Round of 16 will be a one-on-one contest, with details of Picklum’s heat still to be confirmed.
Haakon Barry