Molly Picklum has come agonisingly close to taking another World Surf League title before having to give second best to reigning world champion Caitlin Simmers in a dramatic final at the Abu Dhabi wave pool.
The victory put the reigning champion Simmers back on pole in the WSL standings on 17,800 points, with Picklum second on 13,885 and her fellow Australian Tyler Wright third on 12,610.
Olympic silver medallist Robinson, fourth in last year’s championship, ran into inspired Brazilian hall of famer Italo Ferreira, the former Olympic champion who delivered a couple of magnificent alley-oops en route to winning 17.37 to 15.03.
A clutch 7.70-point last-ditch effort from Picklum to recapture the lead forced Simmers to score 7.04 or more on her final ride to take her sixth WSL title.
But their bid to make it into an all-Australian final was scuppered when Ewing, the 26-year-old Queenslander who was fifth in last year’s championship, was beaten by Rio Waida 15.93 to 15.70, after the Indonesian pulled out a decisive 7.50-point second ride.
