Tyler Wright in early surf defeat in Fiji Women’s Pro

IN-FORM Aussie surfer and current world number one Tyler Wright has suffered a shock Round 2 defeat to wild card entry Bethany Hamilton at the Fiji Women’s Pro.

IN-FORM Aussie surfer and current world number one Tyler Wright has suffered a shock Round 2 defeat to wild card entry Bethany Hamilton at the Fiji Women’s Pro.

Hamilton scored a 16.10 to 14.90 victory over Wright.

Despite the loss, Wright said her focus was on the world title and she was “stoked” with how she surfed in the Round 2 heat.

“I ran pretty much a perfect heat and at the end I gave myself plenty of opportunities to catch a wave, I had priority,” Wright said afterwards.

“Heats like that, they’re kind of enjoyable because it’s so close, it’s such a battle and I’m kinda stoked. She’s the greatest woman, probably ever, and I’m stoked all round. Stoked with the way I surfed, how I ran my heat, I actually wouldn’t change anything - that’s my personal choice - and stoked for Bethany as well.”

Wright was forced into the sudden death heat after suffering an early setback against fellow Australian Nikki van Dijk.

Tyler Wright won the final of the recent Oi Rio Pro but has faced early setbacks in Fiji.

Van Dijk, 21, needed 16 stitches when she smashed into the Cloudbreak reef in 2014, but she thrived in pristine 1-1.5m waves on Sunday to beat Wright and Hamilton in their opening heat to advance straight to round three.

“I do think about my injury in Fiji from a few years back because I know what can happen,” van Dijk said.

“I’ve always had that in the back of my mind but I am happy to be competing here.”

Wright leads the WSL rankings going into the fifth of the 10 events on the championship tour but she’s under plenty of pressure, with her nearest challengers Courtney Conlogue (USA) and Carissa Moore (Hawaii), and fourth-placed countrywoman Sally Fitzgibbons advancing directly to round three with opening-day wins.

Tyler Wright in action during the recent Oi Rio Pro in Rio de Janeiro.

Fitzgibbons fought a fiercely contested heat with defending event champion Bianca Buitendag of South Africa and Australian WSL rookie Keely Andrew.

She dropped rides of 7.27 and 6.93 late in the heat to triumph. “It is nice being back in the line-up at Cloudbreak,” Fitzgibbons said.

“This event is definitely a moving point in the season but that aside, I am trying to step it up.

“There were some challenging conditions this morning on multiple spots of the reef. I did not quite have my rhythm but I tried to manufacture that win so I was happy.”

Bethany Hamilton has gone into the third round of the Fiji tournament after beating world no.1 Tyler Wright.

World No. 2 Conlogue dominated her heat against Coco Ho (Hawaii) and injury replacement Bronte Macaulay of Australia.

Reigning world champion Moore blazed past Sage Erickson (USA) and WSL rookie Chelsea Tuach of Barbados.

“A wave like Fiji is a little intimidating for me so I definitely feel like I have a lot of room to improve and I am looking forward to it,” Moore said.

Originally published as Tyler Wright in early surf defeat in Fiji Women’s Pro