Carissa Moore certainly made up for lost time.
The four-time world champion dispatched of a couple of fellow Hawaii surfers Monday at Honolua Bay at the Maui Pro as the World Surf League championship tour ended a 10-month hiatus.
Moore, of Honolulu, punched her ticket to the semifinals by defeating wildcard Bettylou Sakura Johnson, a 15-year-old from Oahu, and Kauai’s Malia Manuel.
“I knew I couldn’t take her lightly,” Moore said of Johnson. “She has a great crew behind her, especially with coach Ross Williams; he’s got the knowledge behind her. She’s confident and she attacks the wave.”
With “highly-rippable 4-to 6-foot waves and a light wind,” according to the World Surf League, Tuesday marked the first time the championship tour opened on the islands, where it formerly concluded with the women’s Maui Pro and the men’s Billabong Pipe Masters, which is now set to begin Tuesday as the holding period begins for at the Banzai Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore.
Wave-permitting, the 28-year-old Moore will try for her fourth victory at Honolua on Tuesday. In the semis, she’ll face either Californian Sage Erickson or Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil. In the round of 16, Erickson took down world runner-up Caroline Marks.
Tyler Wright, a two-time world champion from Australia, is in the semifinals as well after posting the first 10-point ride of the season in ousting Stephanie Gilmore, a seven-time world champ and the winningest surfer ever at Honolua, in the quarters.
“It was all feeling, really,” Wright said.
Up next, Wright will face Sally Fitzgibbons, an Australian who defeated American Lakey Peterson to reach the semifinals.
