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Friday 21 April, 2006
Tavarua/Namotu, Fiji
ROXY PRO FIJI
(23 April to 28 April)
EVENT #2 ON THE 2006 ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) WOMEN'S WORLD TOUR
News, results and images on www.aspworldtour.com and www.roxy.com
BIG SWELL FORECAST FOR ROXY PRO IN FIJI
A large 2.5 metre plus (eight foot plus) swell is due to hit Fiji for the sixth-annual Roxy Pro, which starts this Sunday 23 April.
Event forecaster Ben Matson, of swellnet.com.au, said the surf outlook for the Roxy Pro is very promising.
"Two swell events are due to arrive during the waiting period and a 2 - 2.5m (6-8 foot plus) swell mid-next week is expected to produce great waves on the main reef at Cloudbreak," Matson said.
The Roxy Pro, based on the islands of Tavarua and Namotu, is destination number two on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women's World Tour.
Defending Roxy Pro champion Sofia Mulanovich (PER), who has won the event for the past two years, will be looking for a hat trick when the world's best female surfers descend on the left-hand reef breaks of Cloudbreak, Restaurants and Namotu from April 23-28.
Mulanovich's 2004 and 2005 victories in Fiji spurred the Peruvian's respective world title campaigns. In 2004 she went on to become the first South American to win a world title and in 2005 she finished runner-up to good friend Chelsea Georgeson (AUS).
A result in this year's Roxy Pro in Fiji will provide Mulanovich with a platform from which to launch an all-out assault to reclaim the title.
"Fiji was the first WCT event that I won, and I absolutely love the place so it's really special for me," Mulanovich said. "I get knocked out in the first round on the Gold Coast every year and then go to Fiji and do really well, so I'm hoping the same thing happens this year and I get a result."
Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS), who comes into the Roxy Pro the top rated surfer after winning the first event of the year, the Roxy Pro on the Gold Coast of Australia, has also won in Fiji and will be eager to back up that result during the South Pacific leg of the tour. Other former Roxy Pro winners include Hawaiians Keala Kennelly (2003) and Megan Abubo (2001).
A traditional Fijian welcoming ceremony to pray for surf and the safety of the surfers will be held on Saturday afternoon with the main-event waiting period coming into play Sunday.
Only two full days of the six-day waiting period are needed to complete the women's stand-alone event, which carries US$78,300 prize money.
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