Molly Picklum came close to taking another title of the World Surf League before giving the second best to rule the World Champion Caitlin Simmers in a dramatic final at the Abu Dhabi Wave Pool.
Picklum, the rising 22-year-olds from Gosford, fought so wonderful in man-made man on Hudayriyat Island, who took the showdown against the American until the final ride on Sunday.
A strict 7.70-point last-ditch effort from Picklum to retrieve the lead that forced Simmers to score 7.04 or more of his final ride to pick up his sixth WSL title.
So when the teenager took a fall near the end of a wonderful ride, both of him and Picklum were left upsetting whether he really made enough to wait anxiously side by side to know the judges’ judgment .
“It’s close,” Picklum said loudly.
When Simmers’ score of 7.43 exploded, the judges who decided the quality of his early work tapped the scales on his way, the American was left with pleasure when he realized that he had prevailed 0.40 points, 16.10 to 15.70.
Picklum had earlier went to the showdown by defeating Canada Erin Brooks in the quarter-final (14.50 to 13.03) and Frenchwoman Vahine Fierro (13.77 to 10.53) in the semis.
But the 19-year-old Simmers, obviously the best surfer in the entire event, was enough to earn his sixth straight win in Australia, which he had never defeated in a WSL’s head-to-head.
The victory returned to the ruling champion Simmers who returned to the WSL pole standing 17,800 points, with a second picklum of 13,885 and his fellow Australian Tyler Wright was third in 12,610.
The loss gave the anti-climactic end to what a moment set to be a red-letter day for Australian surfers, including Ethan Ewing and Jack Robinson who qualified for men’s semi-finals.
But their bidding to do so in an all-Australian final was spoiled when Ewing, the 26-year-old Queenslander fifth in last year’s championship, was beaten by Rio Waida 15.93 to 15.70, after which The Indonesian pulled a decisive 7.50-point second ride.
Olympic silver medalist Robinson, fourth in last year’s championship, ran into the inspiration of Brazilian Hall of Famer Italo Ferreira, the former Olympic champion who delivered some wonderful alley-oops on the route to Win 17.37 to 15.03.
30-year-old Ferreira then maintained his vintage form to win the final against Waida 17.27 to 14.50.
Brazilian now led the general men’s championship with 16,085 points, with Ewing the leading Aussie in the fourth place in 9405. Robinson was eighth at 7415.
