Quarter-final loss drops Picklum to Challenger Series

Molly Picklum in action at the Margaret River Pro on April 30, 2022. Photo: Matt Dunbar/World Surf League

SURFING

Central Coast surfer, Molly Picklum, has been eliminated from the Championship Tour (CT) 2022 after losing her quarter-final in the Margaret River Pro on Saturday, April 30.

Entering Round 5 of the CT in Western Australia at 16th in the women’s rankings, Picklum needed a strong finish to make the top nine and avoid the mid-season cutline.

An opening-heat win over seven-time WSL champion, Stephanie Gilmore, and former Margaret River event winner, Lakey Peterson, on Monday, April 25 took Picklum to the round of 16.

On Saturday, the Shelly Beach representative beat fellow Aussie, Tyler Wright, with a two-wave score of 15.10, featuring a first-class single-wave score of 9.17 (out of a potential 10).

That win secured Picklum a quarter-final against American surfer, Courtney Conlogue, yet it was the latter who advanced to the semi-finals.

Picklum now enters the Challenger Series in search of requalification for the CT in 2023.

Her first stop in that contest will be the Gold Coast Pro, set to commence next Saturday, May 7.

Haakon Barry