Roxy Pro (April 17-22) Live on www.roxy.com & www.aspworldtour.com

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)
2005 Women's World Championship Tour (WCT)

SOFIA MULANOVICH REIGNS SUPREME -
REPEAT WINS AT THE ROXY PRO IN FIJI

SPECTACULAR SURF AND SUN FOR DAY TWO OF ROXY PRO

HUGE WAVES FOR ROXY PRO IN FIJI

Thursday, April 21, 2005 (Tavarua & Namotu Islands, Fiji): A nailbiting finish in the dying seconds of the Roxy Pro in Fiji was all Sofia Mulanovich (Peru) needed to reassert her supremacy over women's surfing today.

In clean five foot (1.5m) waves at Cloudbreak Reef, Mulanovich caught a winning ride with only 10 seconds remaining in the final after Layne Beachley (Aus) appeared to have won the title.

"I'm in the clouds, this place never lets me down," current world champion Mulanovich said after the win, which makes her the first-ever repeat winner of the Roxy Pro in Fiji. "Last year I was on my way to being world champion and then this year I felt all that pressure, so this win is even better than last year's."

Needing less than a five-point ride at the halfway mark of the 35-minute final, the Peruvian waited patiently while holding priority to catch the wave she needed.

Paddling into a wave with only seconds to go, she performed a series of quick maneuvers under intense pressure to score seven-plus points for an emphatic victory. "I always had hope into the last minutes and then God sent me a wave and I took advantage of it and I won - and I'm so happy," Mulanovich said.

A very disappointed Beachley struggled to make sense of it all after the loss. "I'm not taking it very well because I put so much heart into it," she said. "I'm really happy for Sof, she surfed well, but I'm very disappointed in myself because once again I made a tactical wave selection error which cost me the whole contest."

With the Roxy Pro being the richest event on the 2005 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women's World Championship Tour (WCT), Mulanovich won a first prize check of US$10,600 out of the total US$75,800 purse.

Mulanovich has now won back-to-back victories on this year's tour, after winning at Bells Beach, Australia last month, and she has taken the lead on the 2005 ratings. Hawaiian Megan Abubo is in second place with Layne Beachley third.

Mulanovich looked very focused on the final day of the Roxy Pro, defeating Hawaiian Rochelle Ballard in a semi-final, Australian Samantha Cornish in the quarterfinals, and Australian wildcard Stephanie Gilmore in round three.

Beachley defeated Megan Abubo (Haw) in the semi-finals, and Hawaiian Keala Kennelly in the quarter-finals.

The Roxy Pro was memorable for huge 6-10 foot (2-3m) surf on the first day of competition with outstanding performances from the top women professional surfers, who broke new ground for women's surfing.

Roxy Pro Final (1st=1,200 points and $10,600, 2nd= 972 points and $6,600)
Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 13.75 def Layne Beachley (AUS) 11.25

Roxy Pro Semifinals (1st>Final; 2nd=3rd and $4,600)
SF1: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 15.65 def Rochelle Ballard (HAW) 12.75
SF2: Layne Beachley (AUS) 14.75 def Megan Abubo (HAW) 11.90

Roxy Pro Quarterfinals (1st>Semifinals; 2nd=5 th and $3,600)
QF1: Rochelle Ballard (HAW) 13.75 def Chelsea Georgeson (AUS) 10.50
QF2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 9.00 def Samantha Cornish (AUS) 3.50
QF3: Megan Abubo (HAW) 10.15 def Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 9.25
QF4: Layne Beachley (AUS) 12.90 def Keala Kennelly (HAW) 9.00

WCT RATINGS AFTER EVENT #3 ROXY PRO FIJI 2005
1. Sofia Mulaovich 2760
2. Megan Abubo 2484
3. Layne Beachley 2280
4. Serena Brooke 1692
5. Rochelle Ballard 1668
6. Chelsea Georgeson 1668
7. Jacqueline Silva 1464
8. Samantha Cornish 1464
9. Melanie Redmann-Carr 1464
10. Claire Bevilaqua 1296

SPECTACULAR SURF AND SUN FOR DAY TWO OF ROXY PRO

Thursday, April 21, 2005 (Tavarua & Namotu Islands, Fiji): Round three of the Roxy Pro in Fiji will soon be underway in clean five to six foot conditions at Cloudbreak. Offshore winds and clear skies will further compliment already favorable circumstances for upcoming rounds.

Defending Champ Sofia Mulanovich will again meet wildcard Stephanie Gilmore today in round three. Gilmore, who earned a wildcard into Roxy's Gold Coast event in March and went on to win the event, has beat Mulanovich in each of their three meetings this year.

Contest officials plan to capitalize on the current swell and will run as many heats as possible today. Log onto www.aspworldtour.com and www.roxy.com to catch it all LIVE!

ROXY PRO ROUND THREE (1st>Quarterfinals; 2nd=9th)
H1: Rochelle Ballard (HAW); Rebecca Woods (AUS)
H2: Chelsea Georgeson (AUS); Laurina McGrath (AUS)
H3: Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS); Samantha Cornish (AUS);
H4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER); Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
H5: Megan Abubo (HAW); Melanie Bartels (HAW)
H6: Jacqueline Silva (BRA); Trudy Todd (AUS);
H7: Serena Brooke (AUS); Keala Kennelly (HAW);
H8: Layne Beachley (AUS); Heather Clark (ZAF)

Women / Round 1

Heat # 1
12.75 Chelsea Georgeson (AUS); 8.25 Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS); 0.50
Tita Tavares (BRA)

Heat # 2
11.50 Rochelle Ballard (HAW); 9.00 Rebecca Woods (AUS); 8.75 Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)

Heat # 3
14.90 Keala Kennelly (HAW); 11.75 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS); 6.50 Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
11.25 Laurina McGrath

Heat # 4
15.00 Trudy Todd (AUS); 3.50 Melanie Bartels (HAW); 0.00 Megan Abubo (HAW)

Heat # 5
15.50 Samantha Cornish (AUS); 13.75 Layne Beachley (AUS); 7.15 Heather Clark (ZAF)

Heat # 6
11.25 Laurina McGrath (AUS); 7.20 Serena Brooke (AUS) 5.90 Jacqueline Silva (PER)

Women / Round 2

Heat # 1
15.25 Sofia Mulanovich (PER); 11.00 Heather Clark (ZAF); 9.00 Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)

Heat # 2
6.75 Megan Abubo (HAW); 2.00 Jacqueline Silva (BRA); 0.00 Tita Tavares (BRA)

HUGE WAVES FOR ROXY PRO IN FIJI

Wednesday, April 20, 2005 (Tavarua & Namotu Islands, Fiji):

Cloudbreak Reef, Tavarua, delivered one of the most epic days of waves in the history of women's surfing for the Roxy Pro in Fiji today.

As predicted by forecasters, the swell rose overnight to six to eight feet with some 10 foot (2-3m) bombs.

As the organizers waited for the tide to start rising this morning, to put more water on the shallow reef, some incredible waves were ridden, including a classic from Australian Chelsea Georgeson, who then went on to win her first round heat.

"I'm just so happy that I didn't break my board on that wave before the competition began," Georgeson said.

Hawaiian Keala Kennelly, well renowned as a big wave charger, impressed all with her total commitment and tuberiding skills to win her first round heat convincingly, defeating Sofia Mulanovich and Roxy Trials winner Stephanie Gilmore.

Kennelly suffered a few scrapes courtesy of the coral but garnered a great barrel beforehand: "I took off on one wave where I got an 8.5 and it was a heavy drop but I was looking at the inside and I could see it was going to throw, so I pulled in and when I came out I just got clobbered by the reef - but I got the score so it's all worth it."

Australian schoolgirl Stephanie Gilmore, who won the sole wildcard spot after winning the Roxy Trials earlier today, said she just aimed for second place so that she could progress straight to round three.

"I was confident that Keala was going to win that heat and that it was just a matter of getting ahead of Sof, so I did just that," said a happy Gilmore.

World champion Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), the defending Roxy Pro champion, lost in the same first round heat, placing third, but she convincingly won her second round heat to move into round three.

"This is a really special contest for me and I always expect to have a strong result here, so I really didn't want to lose in round two," Mulanovich said of her comeback.

Australian Samantha Cornish top-scored for the day with a total of 15.5, defeating six-time world champion Layne Beachley (Australia) and South African Heather Clark in round one.

"I couldn't believe how much water was sucking off the reef when I was taking off and then just the noise of the wave hitting the reef. My whole focus was on making the drop and getting out of there," Samantha said, laughing at the end of an amazing day.

There were several injuries today, but nothing serious. Melanie Redmann-Carr (AUS) required six stitches in her shin prior to her round one heat against Chelsea Georgeson (AUS) and Maria Tita Tavares (BRA). Redmann-Carr was hit by her board freesurfing earlier in the morning but still managed to come second behind Georgeson and avoid the elimination round two.

In the final heat of the day, Brazilian Jacqueline Silva was caught by a rogue set on the inside of the reef and was ragdolled across the sharp coral: "I was unable to duckdive under the wave as it was so shallow, and it rolled me across the reef, cutting my arms, legs and torso, but I'm really happy to make it through."

Silva placed second in her round two heat, to Hawaiian Megan Abubo, and both move through to round three of the Roxy Pro. Brazilian Tita Tavares was eliminated in this heat, while Australian Claire Bevilacqua was also eliminated in round two.

At the end of an incredible day of competition, commentator John Shimooka, a former professional surfer, said: "That was some of the best women's surfing I've ever seen because of the commitment and fearlessness that the girls showed. That was very heavy and gnarly Cloudbreak because of the direction of the swell and the way it was peaking and barreling, with a lot of water unloading on a very shallow reef. They should be very proud of themselves."

Conditions are expected to be similar tomorrow with 6-8 foot conditions, and clean offshore winds.