IN IT TO RING IT

Congrats to Steph Gilmore who just rang her second bell after she won the historical Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Torquay, Victoria, Australia (with Sofia Mulanovich in a close second). Though all the girls of the ASP World Tour were absolutely ripping, Steph, as usual, outshined them all. It was sort of a repeat showdown of last year’s event, where Steph and Sofia squared off for the first time at Bells Beach.

Although Sofia held the lead for the majority of the final, Steph stroked into a solid Bells righthander with five minutes left, stylishly weaving through floaters and top turns to scalp the day’s high single-wave score of a 9.33 out of a possible 10. She took the lead and Sof couldn’t keep the Australian from claiming her second consecutive Rip Curl Women’s Pro title.

“I don’t know how I did that on that wave,” Steph said. “Sofia had been surfing so well all day and to come back from such big scores, it just feels amazing.”

Sofia, who took out the season-opener on the Gold Coast of Australia, saw her ratings lead on the 2008 ASP Women’s World Tour strengthen today with her impressive Runner-Up finish at the Rip Curl Women’s Pro