THE Margaret River Pro, stop number three on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), begins Wednesday, with a competitive window from April 11-22, 2018.
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The final stop on the Australian leg, the Margaret River Pro, offers the ultimate trifecta of waves to test the world’s best surfers: Main Break, North Point, and The Box.
With a new crop of up-and-coming surfers, the world is eager to see how the competitors perform in Western Australia’s wild and wooly conditions.
World title challenger Sally Fitzgibbons, from Gerroa, found her breakthrough win in 2017 at Margaret River’s Main Break and looks for back-to-back Margaret River Pro victories this week.
After an erratic start to her competitive season, there is no better place for Fitzgibbons to get her title campaign on track than the familiar waters of Western Australia.
“I love it here in Western Australia,” Fitzgibbons said.
“I've been coming here for a long time.
“I'm carrying all the confidence from last year and I'm hoping to take it all the way again.
“There are so many different elements that go into your surfing here – you feel it in and out of the water.
“You never know what's going to happen next."
Fitzgibbons will take on Brazil’s Silvana Lima and Hawaii’s Coco Ho in round one, heat one.
Three three Wright siblings from Culburra Beach, Owen, Tyler and Mikey will alsp be competing in Western Australia.
Mikey has been matched-up with countryman Wade Carmichael and reigning world champion, John John Florence, from Hawaii, in heat four of round one.
His brother Owen, who sits in equal-fourth in the rankings, will hit the water one heat earlier against Brazilian pair Caio Ibelli and Miguel Pupo.
The pair’s sister and two-time world champion Tyler will battle colleague Macy Callaghan and Hawaii’s Tatiana Weston-Webb in heat five of round one.