PRAIA DE CARCAVELOS, Cascais/Portugal (Wednesday, October 4, 2017) - Nikki Van Dijk has won the Cascais Women’s Pro to claim her first ever CT event win. Van Dijk battled three-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore in an exciting 35-minute final at the back-up venue of Guincho.

Today’s victory sees Van Dijk become the first surfer from Victoria, Australia to win a CT event since Tony Ray won the the Lacanau Pro in 1992. The twenty two year old will now jump up two places from 7th to 5th on the Jeep Leaderboard, just 350 points behind Sage Erickson (USA)in 4th place.

Nikki Van Dijk (takes her first CT victory with a win at the Cascais Women's Pro (WSL / Poullenot)

“I have jelly legs, everything is jelly but I’m just so happy,” Van Dijk said. “It was so close at the end but I think I’ve won! It’s wild and woolly out there. I was scrambling around at the end because I knew Carissa [Moore] only needed a small score so I was wanting to better my score too. Carissa can get 8’s and 9’s in her sleep but it was really hard at the end. I like the feeling of this so let’s keep it going. I’m just going to enjoy this moment. This is literally what I’ve wanted to do my whole life.”

Van defeated big names to reach the final today, including Lakey Peterson (USA) in the Quarterfinals and Jeep Ratings Leader Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) in the Semifinals. Van Dijk has two previous CT Semifinal finishes under her belt (Rio in 2017 and Trestles in 2016) but today mark’s her first appearance in a CT Final.

"It feels amazing, this is insane," said Van Dijk. "I'm living my eight-year-old dream right now and I'm over the moon. I couldn't imagine what this would feel like but it feels so good. Now that I've done it I'm so hungry to win even more."

The Final saw Van Dijk charge to an early lead by building a 10.17 combined heat total in the opening ten minutes. Moore came back with a bang and posted a 7.83 on her backhand to close the gap on her opponent but the young Australian responded and increased her lead, leaving Moore in need of a 2.84. The three-time WSL Champion spent the remainder of the 35 minute bout chasing down a score. Moore took a wave in the final minutes but the score fell short, with a 2.27, and Van Dijk took the win.

Three-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore claimed her best result of the year with a runner-up finish today in Cascais (WSL / Poullenot)

Moore broke past the Quarterfinals today for the first time this season with her runner-up finish and dispatched Sage Erickson (USA) and Malia Manuel (HAW) before taking on Van Dijk. After a disappointing season so far Moore came into the event in 9th place on the Jeep Leaderboard but leaves with her best result of 2017 and moves up to 7th place.

“It’s been an up and down year so I’m so stoked just to make it past the Quarterfinals,” said Moore. “The Final was just the cherry on top of a great day. Things are really changing out there. I know I only needed a two-something but sometimes those scores are the hardest to get. I’m really looking forward to France and having a lot of fun there.”

Jeep ratings leader Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) was defeated by eventual winner Van Dijk in Semifinal 1. The shock upset sees Fitzgibbons take home a third place finish but she will retain the Jeep Leader Jersey and increase her lead over her closest rival Courtney Conlogue (USA)heading into the next event on the CT, the Roxy Pro France. Fitzgibbons and Van Dijk were neck and neck through the closing minutes of the heat but Van Dijk edged the win by just 0.16 to eliminate her more experienced competitor.

“It’s a bit tough at the moment,” Fitzgibbons said. “I really thought I’d done enough coming in from that heat. It was one of those heats that I thought I surfed really well so to hear those scores and not come in with the win is a challenge, but something I’ll learn from. It felt good that my surfing stepped up from the Quarterfinals but it just wasn’t to be today. It was a great opportunity today to go further in the lead and I’m glad we’ve got an event next week. The challenge is keeping me inspired and fired up to get out there and keep making heats. Everyone is hungry and surfing so well so it all comes down to these close heats.”

Malia Manuel (HAW) was defeated by Moore in an all-Hawaiian Semifinal match-up and secured her best CT Result since the Vans US Open of Surfing last season. Following a four-event absence due to injury Manuel looks to be regaining her form and today’s result sees her climb up one place on the Jeep Leaderboard to 14th.

“It was fun, I was a little frustrated to fall on that one wave and that changed my outlook on the heat,” Manuel said. “There are so many emotions, I can’t not be grateful for a third place finish but I am disappointed. I’m still feeling a little less than perfect but I’m happy to be back, get in the groove and I’m also so happy for Carissa [Moore]. I love Hossegor so I’m looking forward to that event, it’s one of my favorite stops on tour.”

The EDP Billabong Pro Cascais ran in between women’s heats and completed the fifth round of competition as well as the man-on-man Quarterfinals to set up for an exciting finish on Thursdaymorning at Guincho.

Championship Tour athletes Joan Duru (FRA) and Kanoa Igarashi (USA) battled in the opening Quarterfinal of the event, taking their fight to the powerful walls of Guincho in an exciting display of high-performance surfing. Both surfers posted an excellent ride on the rights and the heat came down to their back-ups, with Igarashi taking a slight advantage, and the first ticket for Semifinal No. 1.

“I’m just really used to surfing these windy and hard conditions because I spend a lot of time here in Portugal and this is the most accessible beach around here,” Igarashi stated. “So it’s a sense of comfort with good boards and all my friends here to support, it definitely helps a lot. I thought Jesse (Mendes) was unreachable, and he’s worked so hard to be there, it’s tough now for him to better his worst result, so I’m still catching up and making a late charge.”

Italo Ferreira (BRA) opened his account with a similar approach on the dredging lefts to take a quick lead over compatriot and two-time winner in Cascais Jadson Andre (BRA). He soon clicked into the next gear and posted two big scores including an incredible 9.27 for a massive forehand rotation to take the win.

“I’m so glad to make another heat, it was a fun one against Jadson (Andre),” Ferreira said. “I had some really fun waves and landed that big air so I’m stoked. I changed boards for one with slightly more volume, there’s a lot of water moving out there so I needed that.”

Cascais’ best ambassador Frederico Morais (PRT) continued to entertain the hopes of the local crowds with a great performance to make his way into the Semifinals as well. Morais started stronger than his opponent Willian Cardoso (BRA) and kept building momentum throughout the thirty minutes of their match-up to walk away with the win and his best-ever result in a major event on home soil.

“I’ve been surfing Guincho my whole life so I know this place and I feel like we have a connexion,” Morais reflected. “It’s been a really fun event and that Semifinal is going to be tough! I’m not sure what conditions will be like tomorrow but I’ll just try to enjoy myself and put on a good show.”

The day’s final heat disappointed slightly as both Griffin Colapinto (USA) and Ezekiel Lau (HAW) struggled to find the big open sections and dangerous closeouts and posted minimal scores up until the ten-minute mark. The Hawaiian worked the hardest to get out of that low-scoring zone and eventually claimed the final ticket for the semis in Cascais.

“That was a fight!” Lau said. “My fin popped out midway through the heat on what I thought was going to be my best wave but I kept fighting. I was still in it, the scores were pretty low so I just told myself I needed two more waves and at the end there I was happy I was able to clutch up.”

CASCAIS WOMEN’S PRO FINAL RESULTS:
1: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 10.67
2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 10.10

CASCAIS WOMEN’S PRO SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 13.66 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.50
SF 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 12.50 def. Malia Manuel (HAW) 6.50

CASCAIS WOMEN’S PRO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 10.50 def. Lakey Peterson (USA) 7.67
QF 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 12.66 def. Keely Andrew (AUS) 9.10
QF 3: Malia Manuel (HAW) 11.60 def. Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 10.83
QF 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) 13.37 def. Sage Erickson (USA) 9.60

2017 Women’s WSL Jeep Leaderboard Top 5 (after Cascais Women’s Pro):
1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) - 51,600
2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) - 48,100
3: Tyler Wright (AUS) - 46,450
4: Sage Erickson (USA) - 42,350
5: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) - 42,000