Isabella Nichols has withdrawn from the Fiji Pro final after suffering a left-ankle injury in her semi-final, handing the World Surf League event title to Canadian Erin Brooks, whom the Australian considers a little sister.
Nichols injured herself while riding a barrel at Cloudbreak but returned to the water to protect her lead against Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy. She eventually won the closely fought semi-final 10.67 to 10.50.
The Australian was initially taken away on a jet ski and had her ankle strapped after being unable to put weight on it. Scans were arranged before she made the decision to pull out of the final.
“I’m more emotional about actually making the final here than I am about injuring my ankle,” Nichols said after the semi-final.
She had reached the last four by beating Portugal’s Yolanda Hopkins in the quarter-finals, while Brooks defeated former world champion Carissa Moore in the other semi-final.
Nichols said the injury happened when her board flipped beneath her as she pulled into the wave, sending a sharp pain from her foot up towards her hip.
“It felt debilitating – I couldn’t stand up,” she said. “It probably felt like one of the worst injuries I’ve done.”
Brooks, who had been in strong form after winning the previous World Surf League event in Tahiti, therefore secured the Fiji Pro crown without having to face Nichols in the decider.
Nichols had described Brooks as a younger-sister figure before the final, adding a personal dimension to a result that was ultimately decided by the Australian’s injury rather than by competition in the water.
