The women’s surfing world tour is living up to all the hype. Finally being put out in conditions they deserve instead of junk, the performance levels have turned up a notch or two. At The Drug Aware Margaret River Pro this weekend, the second stop on tour, things got very competitive in a medium size south west swell.

Right from the get go Carissa Moore and Stephanie Gilmore were looking like the two surfers to beat. Moore cruised through every heat, skipping the sudden death rounds and keeping herself fresh. Gilmore did likewise, and when they were ready to meet int he semi finals most thought this would be the heat to decide the competition.

A repeat of the semi from last months Gold Coast pro, which Gilmore won, it was always going to be tough. But in a reverse of that semi it was Moore who concentrated on getting the high scoring waves, and she progressed to the final.

In the other semi Sally Fitzgibbons and Tyler Wright, two of last years title contenders, went wave for wave in inconsistent conditions. Wright always looked like she had the upper hand and progressed to the final to meet Moore.

The final was a tense affair, conditions were less than ideal, and whilst Moore got off to a solid start, Wright held the lead for much of the heat. But it was Moore who made the most intelligent wave selection, and used those waves to lay down a winning score and take back to back Margaret River pro events.

It all means the world title race is pretty open with the two favourites Moore and Gilmore on identical scores from the first two events. We now move on to Bells Beach in just over a week for stop three.

Check out the video highlights here – www.aspworldtour.com