Australians Callum Robson and Jacob Willcox have survived the elimination second round at the Margaret River Pro in Western Australia, while Olympic silver medallist Kanoa Igarashi scraped through by the skin of his teeth.
Willcox (13.30) topped his three-man heat against star Brazilian Caio Ibelli (13.13) and Jack Thomas (10.26) on Saturday morning in the six-to-eight foot conditions.
It means Willcox and Ibelli progress to the third round, while Thomas is eliminated.
Costa Rica’s Carlos Munoz and Michael Rodrigues, of Brazil, were also knocked out, ending their hopes of making the mid-season cut.
Only the leading 22 men and 10 women will make the cut.
Rodrigues and Munoz will now attempt to win their places back on the main tour for 2024 via this year’s Challenger Series.
“Right now I need a couple of days just to think about everything and reset,” a disappointed Rodrigues said.
“Next year I’ll be back.”
Robson, who is ranked 14th in the world, produced a two-wave total of 12.50 to top his elimination heat against 18-year-old Australian Jarvis Earle (10.76) and Rodrigues (10.57).
“It’s nice to get through that heat,” Robson told the WSL broadcast.
“I’ve found myself in the elimination round the last three events, so to get out of it is pretty nice.”
Japan’s Igarashi is also through to the third round, but it was a close call.
The Sunshine Coast’s Reef Heazlewood won the heat with a two-wave total of 15.16, while Igarashi (14.56) just edged out world No.16 Rio Waida (14.50).
The biggest focus on round three will be the matchup between 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and Australia’s Liam O’Brien.
Slater currently sits 26th in the rankings and needs a big result in WA in order to survive the mid-season cut.
When the women’s event resumes later on Saturday, world No.1 Molly Picklum will be up against American Courtney Conlogue in the round of 16.
-AAP
