Sally Fitzgibbons has won her second-straight Fiji Women's Pro, nursing a painful perforated ear drum through a dominant final day at Cloudbreak.
The Australian's ninth career World Surf League win on Thursday pushed her up three spots to third in the title rankings with five events left in the season, boosting her chances of finally taking out a world championship.
The three-time championship runner-up posted two scores above nine in the final against South African Bianca Buitendag to score an emphatic 18.56 to 14.40 win.
Fitzgibbons now moves ahead of injured Aussie world champion Stephanie Gilmore and countrywoman Tyler Wright, who was knocked out in the fourth round by France's Johanne Defay.
It was a tough road to the finals for Fitzgibbons who suffered a shock first-round loss to Sydney's Laura Enever.
She had more bad luck in the second round, bursting her eardrum and defying medical advice to compete with a bandage around her head.
However on Thursday she was unstoppable, scoring comprehensive wins over Enever 17.06 to 11.34 in the quarter-finals and American Lakey Peterson 16.83 to 3.33 in the semi-finals.
"I just kept telling myself to relax, I've been here before and you only need on ear it's OK," a tearful Fitzgibbons said after the final win.
"In the face of adversity this will definitely be one of the sweetest wins I've ever had."
The injury didn't stop the Australian putting herself right under the lip of surging reef-breaking waves during her triumph over Peterson, overcoming a wipeout in shallow waters.
"SO SO SO PROUD @Sally_Fitz WINNING THE #FijiPro," tweeted Fitzgibbons' boyfriend, St George Illawarra NRL forward Trent Merrin.
It was a day of surprises with the top-three ranked competitors - Carissa Moore, Courtney Conlogue and Wright - knocked out before the semi-finals.
Buitendag had been hoping to claim her first championship event win after posting two scores over nine in her semi-final against Defay.
Victorian Nikki Van Dijk (9.57) was knocked out by Buitendag (18.03) in the quarter-finals.
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