05.14.01
ASP World Tour

Teahupoo, Tahiti, Sunday, May 13, 2001 - Defending three-time world champion Layne Beachley (Aus) today defeated Rochelle Ballard (Haw) in the final of the women's Billabong Pro Teahupoo event. In doing so, she regained the No. 1 ratings position for the 2001 World Championship Tour (WCT) and collected US$10,000.

Conditions remained 3-4 foot (1.3m) throughout the final rounds of competition at Teahupoo, with quarterfinal action kicking off at mid-day. Wind and rainsqualls did create slightly bumpy wave faces at times, but competitors still managed to find hollow barrels and execute critical turns.

Beachley back on top

Beachley, 28, unleashed her fighting spirit today with a string of victories that ultimately generated glory in the Billabong Pro Teahupoo. Facing the daunting prospect of meeting world No. 6 Heather Clark (SAfr) in the quarterfinals, the world champ put on a stellar performance to outscore the South African in what became the best match of the day. Clark led the heat after a superb tube, but Beachley proved her determination and clawed back with a great 7.3 ride at the end.

The Australian then battled defending two-time (2000 and 1998) event champion Keala Kennelly (Haw) in the semis. Lack of barrels hindered her opponent's cause, and Beachley was able to rack up enough points with committed backhand surfing to join Ballard in the final. Once there, she dominated from the start and never let up. With boyfriend/shaper/coach/mentor and big wave surfing legend Ken Bradshaw (Haw) lending support from the channel, a double rainbow formed overhead as the 2001 women's tournament concluded in her favor.

"Oh my goodness," began a somewhat shocked Beachley upon the media boat. "It's still disbelief and complete relief. I vowed three years ago never to come back here, as I was so rattled after my first heat then. I was forced to confront my demons last year, however, because I performed so badly at Bells (the event prior). This year I was just ready to give it all I had after such a poor performance in Fiji (last week).

"I think my biggest hurdle was coming up against Heather in the quarterfinals," she explained. "That was the best performance I've ever put on in backhand barreling waves. I've always had a problem with my pig dogging (style of backhand tube-riding), and I just taught myself in 30 minutes how to do it, and how to stay focused through it. Then it came to my semifinal with Keala, who's a specialist here. She's the better surfer out here, but her wave selection let her down. And in the final I had a feeling that Rochelle was a little too amped, and I was just a little too tired, but I got the better waves and played the patient game and surfed my best.

"That was my intention as I had to redeem myself," she added, when asked about making a mends from her ninth place result in Fiji. "First I had to confront my demons with Teahupoo, then I had to have a win out here. Every other year I haven't come here to win, but this time I did, to redeem myself and prove I am a deserving world champion. I'm really stoked to have done so well and gotten my confidence back to a point where I'm feeling good again.

"To find myself back in No. 1 on the ratings is just awesome. I was hoping that I would get there, but I didn't think I had considering how consistent Melanie Redman (Aus) has been. I'm so motivated and so fired up. I've got to wait until September now for the next event, but I'm ready to fight for (world title) number four, and I'm fighting hard. It was really disappointing to look at the ratings and find myself in ninth. I hadn't had a ninth-place result since 1997, so I really felt like it was time to get serious and pull my head in and do what I really love to do, which is win."

Ballard rides into second

Ballard, 30, jumped into equal second with Redman on the current ratings after today's finals berth. Having led the way in women's barrel riding for many years, making the final at Teahupoo was an extremely satisfying achievement for the Hawaiian. Despite being unlucky against Beachley, she eliminated world number four Maria 'Tita' Tavares (Brz) in the semis, as well as Redman in the quarterfinals.

"I'm really glad I was in the final," said Ballard. "I saw a couple good barrels before the final started and I was hoping I could maybe get some, and back them up with some turns. But it just didn't really happen for me. The wind started howling side-shore and it bumped up the waves. The barrels that I pulled into just shut down on me and made me struggle through the heat. I felt like I did some good turns and had solid rides, but they liked Layne's turns more.

"I'm really excited to have an event at Teahupoo," she continued. "It's a challenging wave for a man and a woman, so for us it's so exciting because we have such a great leap to take. It's a challenge in waves like this, so to keep striving forward and meet that every year we come back here ... to see the girls charge that much harder and pull in that much deeper and be able to technically ride the barrel, it's an incredible thing."

Equal third today in the Billabong Pro Teahupoo was Kennelly and Tavares. The Hawaiian found one tube to score 7.5 against Beachley, but fell in another critical barrel and was left needing 7.16 points. It was hard for the 22-year-old to sit and watch a final she's previously won twice, but as it unfolded, said the following.

"I'm really sad to lose my title," began Kennelly. "This is the most important contest to me all year and I wanted to win and keep my title. Everybody here knows me as the Teahupoo champion, and it's bad to lose it, but it happens. The girls are surfing really well this year and all the power to them.

Kennely lost her title, but still rides like a winner.

"I kept falling off at the very end," she continued. "It's such a critical thing barrel riding, and you don't get scored unless you make it. I just got out-turned. I was looking for barrels and the world champion was smacking it (the lip).

"I really wanted to do better in both Fiji (last event, where she finished fifth) and Tahiti. I thought I would at least get a win at one place, you know? But there are still a few events. Sometimes you do well in the events you think you're going to go bad in, so we'll see what happens."

Tavares, 25, also placed fifth in Fiji last week, and now holds down equal fifth on the current ratings along with Kennelly and Serena Brooke (Aus). While the Brazilian did overcome 1998 event champion Kate Skarratt (Aus) in this morning's first quarterfinal, she was unable to find any decent rides against Ballard.

"I waited so long for the waves to come, but I'm happy anyway," said Tavares. "It's a dream to win this event, but I'll wait for next year. There weren't many waves out there and Rochelle got the better ones, but I'm still very happy with a semifinals result."

Official Results Of The Billabong Pro Teahupoo Women
1st Layne Beachley (Aus) 16.75 US$10,000
2nd Rochelle Ballard (Haw) 12.9 US$6,000

Semifinals (2nd place = 3rd; US$4,000)
SF1: Rochelle Ballard (Haw) 13.05 def. Maria Tavares (Brz) 3.9
SF2: Layne Beachley (Aus) 18.65 def. Keala Kennelly (Haw) 15.7

Quarterfinals (2nd place = 5th; US$3,500)
QF1: Maria Tavares (Brz) 14.35 def. Kate Skarratt (Aus) 13.75
QF2: Rochelle Ballard (Haw) 18.25 def. Melanie Redman (Aus) 15.85
QF3: Keala Kennelly (Haw) 13.00 def. Serena Brooke (Aus) 9.55
QF4: Layne Beachley (Aus) 20.15 def. Heather Clark (SAfr) 19.25

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