Nichols, Picklum lock in all-Aussie Bells Beach semi
Murray Wenzel |
Molly Picklum wants to ring the bell but will need to topple defending champion and countrywoman Isabella Nichols after the pair starred again in the World Surf League’s season opener.
Effervescent world champion Picklum (11.30 points) eased past Lakey Peterson (5.00) in their Bells Beach quarter-final on Friday before Nichols won a heated, late exchange for the second straight day to join her.
The winner of Saturday’s semi-final will meet either American Alyssa Spencer or Hawaii’s Gabriela Bryan in the first decider of three Australian events to kick off the season.
It ensures a local presence in the women’s final, a scenario that looked unlikely when a host of Australia’s big names fell in the opening two rounds.
Nichols found two late scores to beat five-time world champion Carissa Moore on Thursday and, again in subdued Winkipop swell, left it late in a tense encounter with Caitlin Simmers on an overcast Friday afternoon.
Both fell on potentially high-scoring waves midway through their heats, leaving Nichols holding the advantage with only a two-point effort as her second-best score.
She built on the lead with a six-point wave before, in a repeat of Thursday’s one-two punch, outdoing her rival with the superior ride in the final minutes of their heat.
A 7.33 on the biggest wave of the heat ensured Simmers’ 6.60 effort was in vain.
Nichols, from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, credited regular trips to Bells each year for her ability to read what she rated one of the world’s “hardest waves to catch”.
“I’m bloody stoked,” she said.
“Oh man, Pickles … I’m so stoked there’s going to be an Aussie in the final. It’s going to be a sick battle.
“I’m in a good headspace … ready for hopefully back-to-back heats tomorrow.”
World-beating Picklum, runner-up to Tyler Wright three years ago, has never won the event but will get the chance when competition returns to nearby Bells Beach on Saturday.
“I want to ring this thing,” she said.
Picklum agreed that she had arrived this year finally comfortable in her own skin, able to fully relax when not in the water.
“What we’re watching is me growing into the jersey and trusting I can switch on,” she said.
“I can allow myself to be me … I’m definitely quite eccentric with my style of fun and (used to think), ‘Does that mean I’m not switched on?’
“Now I know I am; I want to win and it’s instincts from me.”
Only one men’s quarter-final heat was able to be held before competition was called off for the day, with Miguel Pupo (12.50) securing a spot in the semi-finals with a tight win over Barron Mamiya (11.10).
It marks Pupo’s first time in the final four at Bells in what is his 10th attempt.
AAP