It was her 30th event win, an incredible milestone. But Stephanie Gilmore’s signature moment of the Corona Bali Protected at Keramas was a perfect 10 that set her well out ahead of the field in terms of pure performance. After a quick turn off the top, she spied an upcoming tube section and pulled a nifty forehand stall so perfect it should be in a textbook somewhere.
The seven-time world champion found herself in the final against fellow Australian Sally Fitzgibbons. The waves were firing, and Gilmore was fully in her element. Fitzgibbons was left behind: Gilmore nearly had her comboed by heat’s end.
The win pushes Gilmore from the fifth spot on the CT rankings to first, knocking Caroline Marks from the top spot and out of the yellow jersey. The Queen still reigns and doesn’t look at all ready to relinquish her throne.
