Merewether's Morgan Cibilic prevailed in difficult conditions to produce an opening-round heat victory at the Corona Saquarema Pro in Brazil and progress to the round of 48.
The 2021 world No.5 produced the highest wave score of his four-man heat in the Challenger Series (CS) event on Wednesday morning (AEDT) to keep alive his hopes of requalifying for next year's Championship Tour (CT)
Cibilic sat 10th in the CS rankings coming into the Brazil event, just inside the CT qualification line with two events remaining.
The 23-year-old set up his round-of-96 heat win with an unbeaten 6.17-point ride on his second wave.
He backed it up with a 5.33-point effort midway through the heat held in windswept four-to-six foot conditions and was not headed from there, winning with a combined two-wave score of 11.50.
Brazil's Lucas Silveira (10.97) finished second to also progress while Peruvian Alonso Correa (10.93) and Hawaiian Zac Hedemann (3.14) bowed out.
"I couldn't really hear too much out there and when you could it was a little bit broken," Cibilic said after his heat win.
"There were so many waves going in every direction, so I could hear that I was in the lead but I didn't know my scores and what I needed. I'm just super happy to get through that one.
"To be honest, coming into this event I was feeling a little bit of pressure. I just really want to get back [onto the CT] and there's only this event and Hawaii left, so it's crunch time and I just want to get it done."
Fellow Merewether surfers Ryan Callinan and Jackson Baker have already confirmed their starts for the 2023 CT.
Newcastle's Sarah Baum is entered in the women's CS event in Brazil, which had not started.
