CULBURRA Beach's Tyler Wright was edged out by reigning world champion Carissa Moore (Hawaii) for the Sydney Surf Pro crown on Friday - the first event of the 2020 WSL Challenger Series.
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In Manly Beach's small wind affected conditions Moore, found a rhythm, locked in the lead and never relinquished it, to claim victory for the second time at Manly, with a heat total of 11.00 - compared to Wright's score on 10.97.
"I'm super excited to have won this event as I really came here with zero expectations," Moore said.
"I really wanted to use this to get better at just surfing in beach break conditions.
Related content: Wright books spot in Sydney Surf Pro quarter-finals
"I thought this was great practice and a really amazing week here in Manly.
"I think there were some things I did really well and there are a few things I want to go back to the drawing board and work on.
"This event wasn't a high-pressure situation for me and I felt I wasn't too concerned about anyone else and I just wanted to go out there and surf.
"Tyler is an incredible competitor and to be honest, I thought she was going to get the score on that last wave in the final as she's someone you can never count out."
This result continues Wright's strong association with World Surf League event's at Manly Beach
In 2008, a fourteen-year-old the Culburra Beach Boardrider made history, becoming the youngest competitor ever to win an elite Championship Tour event when she claimed victory at the Beachley Classic.
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More a decade later, Wright returned to Manly to commence her 2020 competitive season and got it off to an almost perfect start finishing runner-up to Moore.
Although she fell just 0.03 points short of claiming victory, Wright was over the moon with her start to the 2020 season.
"This is a great start to the year," Wright said.
"When you get that close to winning an event you can't walk away feeling too disappointed - I'm happy.
"This was perfect - it was tricky waves, opponents were tough, it was everything a competitor could want.
"I really love today because you had to work really hard for your wins and that's what I wanted from this event.
"I'm really happy for Carissa and I'm happy with my result."
The men's Sydney Surf Pro was won by Italy's Leonardo Fioravanti ahead of Matt Banting (Australia).
In other WSL, news, due to the rapidly evolving situation with COVID-19 and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of athletes, fans, and staff, the World Surf League has made the decision to cancel all events yet to commence at all tour levels, worldwide for the remainder of March, including the opening event of the 2020 Championship Tour (CT) on the Gold Coast in Australia.
Additionally, the WSL has cancelled the Papara Pro Open Tahiti.
