Miley-Dyer surfing her way into the semi-finals

The quarter-finals of the Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle took place this weekend in Seignosse, France.

After a nail-biting contest, ASP Women’s World Tour rookie Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) tasted sweet revenge when she eliminated six-time world champion and current world No. 1 Layne Beachley (AUS) in the quarter-finals of the Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle on Sunday 3rd September.

Miley-Dyer was beaten by Beachley in the final of a Brazilian ASP Women’s World Tour event last week. Beachley overtook Melanie Redman-Carr on the ASP ratings with the win. Her quarter-final loss to Miley-Dyer today will hand that lead back to Redman-Carr.

Beachley posted a strong heat win over Jacqueline Silva (BRA) in the morning round, but was completely out of sorts against Miley-Dyer in the afternoon. The surfing legend only managed to catch three waves in the heat and posted a low two-wave combined score of 4.40 points. The 33-year-old was obviously disappointed with the loss and will watch fellow Australian Melanie Redman-Carr regain the ASP Women’s World Tour ratings lead tomorrow.

“I’m really stoked to beat Layne because she beat me in the final in Brazil last week and I really wanted to get her back. She beat me in Fiji too so it’s nice to have one up on her because she’s a fantastic competitor and someone I’ve always looked up to. She’s won six world titles and it’s really cool to surf against girls like her that I’ve watched for so long. It makes it even more special to get one up on her. I’m really happy,” said Miley-Dyer on her victory.

Miley-Dyer will now face reigning world champion and defending Rip Curl Pro champion Chelsea Georgeson (AUS) in semi-final 2 tomorrow. The girls are fourth and third respectively on the ratings, so there is high expectations about the match-up.

“Chels and I surfed against each other in the semis in Brazil too so I’m sure she’d be happy to get me back for that. We grew up together surfing on the Juniors and she’s a goofy-footer too so I’ve always looked up to her. She’s the defending world champ and just another girl who’s an absolute privilege to surf against,” said Miley-Dyer.

Silvana Limi earning her place in the semis

Georgeson is hopeful of repeating her stellar win at this event last year by charging her way to the title tomorrow. She defeated Julia Christian (USA) with the highest heat score in round 3 (16.70 points) and then eliminated the ever-dangerous Megan Abubo (HAW) in quarter-final 4.

Redman-Carr has held the ratings lead for most of the season after winning the first three events of the season, but after an =17th place finish in Brazil last week she slid to second behind Beachley. After cruising past Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle Wildcard and ASP Europe Junior Champion Pauline Ado (FRA) in Round 3, she knocked out Rebecca Woods (AUS) in quarter-final 2. She will now face the ever impressive Silvana Limi (BRA) in semi-final 1.

“I’ve made the semifinals every single event since Malibu last year, except the last one where I came horrendously last, so it’s good that I made the semi, but it doesn’t feel like a great result to me because I’ve had three firsts already. It’s a great progression but I hope to exceed myself a little more,” said Redman-Carr.

The four semi-finalists will meet at the Plage Nord Estagnots contest site tomorrow morning at 9.30am and we expect to crown this year’s Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle champion by midday.

The live webcast from www.ripcurl.com will be streaming all of the video action and results from the finals day.

Semi-Final Heats

(1st advances to the Final; 2nd finishes equal 3rd and earns US$4,250)

Semi-final 1: Silvana Lima (BRA) vs. Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS)

Semi-final 2: Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) vs. Chelsea Georgeson (AUS)