Aussies Wright and Nichols into semis at Bells Beach
Wright edged past Bettylou Sakura Johnson in the last of four women's quarter-finals on Saturday.
The Hawaiian young gun had the highest-scoring single wave of the heat, a 7.73-pointer, but 31-year-old Wright advanced 14.00-13.20.
Sakura Johnson won a paddle battle midway through the contest, but it was the Australian who eventually emerged triumphant, grabbing the decisive wave when the Hawaiian had priority.
"Honestly that stuff is just entertaining, it's so fun," said Wright, who leapt off the jetski to set up the paddle battle in an attempt to grab priority.
"It's not fun to be on the losing side of it, but it's one of those ones where she rolled the dice and I rolled mine and that's what it came out to be.
"I fell on one (wave) that was probably going to legitimately put me up.
"It's really tricky out there ... and I'm so happy with my competitive mentality in that heat."
Wright is the only one of the four women's semi-finalists to have previously rung the famous bell, having won the Rip Curl Pro in 2022 and 2023.
After spending last year on the Challenger Tour, Nichols has returned to the big time with a vengeance.
That's one way to secure your finals day ticket! 🎟️Isabella's headed to the Semifinals at the #RipCurlProBellsBeach.@ripcurl @originalbonsoy @visitmelbourne pic.twitter.com/y10bo3JHAl
— World Surf League (@wsl) April 26, 2025
She made the final of the most recent event in El Salvador and is now just two wins away from what would be a maiden triumph at the iconic Victorian venue.
"I've been coming here since I was 15," said 27-year-old Nichols after downing Hawaiian Gabriela Bryan 15.94-10.67.
"I just love this place so much.
"It's pretty hard to tell what a good wave is going to be out there.
"Someone told me right before I was going down the stairs to trust your gut.
"I let a bunch of waves go and it was 'oh man, that could have been a back-up score or something', but I just waited and waited and I managed to find two pretty beautiful waves."
Nichols' recent run of good results have come on a trusty old board she took back out of the cupboard a couple of years ago.
"It has just been something that I can trust," she said.
"I know that as soon as the waves get over three feet that if I'm activated and on my back foot that I've got it, no matter what."
Sally Fitzgibbons was just pipped by Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy in a high-scoring quarter-final, with the veteran Australian going down 15.40-15.17.
Hennessy clinched the win with a brilliant late ride, which the judges rewarded with 9.40 points - the highest-scoring wave of the women's event to date.
The men's quarter-finals were being surfed later on Saturday, with both titles to be decided on Sunday.
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