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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Max McKinney

'Bloody good start': Baker stoked with heat win, Cibilic exits early

Jackson Baker had a dream start winning his opening heat at the Pipeline Billabong Pro but now faces former world champion John John Florence on the Hawaiian's home break.

Competing in his first contest as a Championship Tour surfer, Baker made an impressive entry by progressing to the round of 32 but Merewether clubmate Morgan Cibilic was eliminated early after finishing third in two-straight rounds.

Baker claimed his opening heat on Sunday with a two-wave score of 6.43, finishing slightly ahead of Brazil's Miguel Pupo (6.20) and Portugal's Frederico Morais (5.33). He was trailing his competitors with about nine minutes left in the heat but scored 4.20 from a short left barrel to jump to the lead.

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