Defay's triumph, however, came at a cost. On her way to the Final, she faced her close friend, South African Bianca Buitendag, in a rematch of their Semifinal in Fiji, in which Buitendag out-scored her friend.
This time around was a different story. After a neck-and-neck heat, Defay won by the narrowest of margins, 0.01, to earn her first ever CT Final appearance.
The next Semi was a battle of Tour titans, hometown hero Courtney Conlogue (USA) vs. Aussie powerhouse Sally Fitzgibbons. Conlogue had a slow start, and was scoreless at the halfway point. Fitzgibbons, meanwhile, was running away with the lead, and threw a no-grab flat reverse for good measure before defeating the Californian. Despite Conlogue's loss, she became World No. 1, which means she'll wear the Jeep leader's yellow jersey at the CT Trestles Women's Pro.
