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COOLANGATTA,
Australia (Saturday, Mar. 3, 2007) –At 14-years-old Carissa Moore (HAW) is
20-years younger than seven-time ASP Women's World Champion Layne Beachley (AUS).
Twenty-nine minutes into their 30-minute clash in Round 3 of the Roxy Pro today,
the only numbers that mattered were those being doled out by the judges. 
Moore's
9.33 single wave score (the day’s highest) was just one-tenth of a point
less than Beachley's combined heat total of 9.34 – an equation that left
Beachley needing a combination of two good scoring rides to win their Round 3
clash. 
Moore,
who earned entry into the main event after winning the Roxy Pro Trials on Monday,
beat Beachley 15.66 to 9.34 to advance. “I’m super
stoked, but I was honored just to be out there with Layne," Moore said. "She’s
such a great person, so I’m just excited.” Moore
watched fellow competitor and 2007 ASP Women’s World Tour Rookie Stephanie
Gilmore (AUS) win the event as a wildcard in 2005, but, in her signature style,
remained humble about whether she thinks she could accomplish the same feat. 
"Steph
definitely destroyed that contest - she did awesome," Moore said. "I
don’t know if I can do that but I’m looking forward to having fun and
surfing in the contest.” Beachley, the reigning ASP Women’s
World Champion, is no stranger to drawing wildcards and has come up short in a
couple of highly-publicized bouts against them – namely in Gilmore. As the
No. 1 seed, and with Gilmore now a tour staple, Beachley can now add Moore to
her list of grommets (young surfers) to be wary of. 
“She’s
such a polite girl,” Beachley said. “When we were coming in she was
like, 'Thank you so much for surfing against me,' and I was like, 'Well thank
you so much for smashing me!' When you are the top seed you’re going to come
up against unpredictable 14-year-old wildcards that are going to kick your butt.
Carissa had nothing to lose out there, nothing to prove and she went out there
with such confidence.” 
Beachley, who finished runner-up to Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS) in the Roxy
Pro last year, was quick to give Moore the credit she deserved.
“I
can’t find any excuses for what happened to me today," Beachley said.
"I’m not going to beat myself up too hard about it. I think the conditions
today were quite good and obviously if Carissa could score a 9.00, then being
seven-time World Champ, I should be able to too. It was just a matter of being
patient and I was impatient towards the end of the heat – that’s what
got me.”
Gilmore’s
Round 3 win over Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) will see her through to the Quarterfinals.
She sits opposite the draw from Moore and could potentially draw her if they both
advance through their Quarter and Semifinal heats. “I
would love to make the final with Carissa, although she would probably smash me,"
Gilmore said. "It will be really interesting to see how far she will go in
this event, and no doubt, it will be pretty far." Gilmore,
a Snapper Rocks regular, will now meet fellow local and close friend Chelsea Hedges
(formerly Georgeson) in the next round. 
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