Molly Picklum has continued her recent dominance over fellow Australian Sally Fitzgibbons after a drama-charged start to their second round clash at the El Salvador Pro.
Picklum made it three straight wins this year over Fitzgibbons to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with Caroline Marks, with the pair most recently squaring off at Fiji's Cloudbreak to decide the 2025 world title.
American Marks has won the trophy at Surf City twice before, in 2023 and 2024, and advanced by beating Hawaii's Bettylou Sakura Johnson.
The heat between Picklum and Fitzgibbons had to be restarted after six minutes after a "priority malfunction" caused confusion between the pair.
While the judges were assessing an early block, the priority signal went briefly on Fitzgibbons and then went blank and Picklum took the next wave,
Tour veteran Fitzgibbons also paddled on to the wave and was called for interference, seen out the back raising her hands in protest.
The head judge put the heat on hold and then decided to restart it, with Picklum eventually winning 13.66 to 10.23 with a 7.83 wave a highlight at La Punta Roca.
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"It was an interesting start - I was just competing and like dealing with what's in front of me and I looked up and had priority, so I was like, 'Alright, I'll go'," 23-year-old Picklum explained.
"And then whatever unfolded and it was definitely a moment where I was like, 'Alright, this is where champions like either reset and move on' ... personally, I love those moments it really shows my character to try and stand up and come back and just wash that off.
"Obviously happy to have gotten through that."
Another Australian in Tyler Wright continued her strong form, ousting another American in Lakey Peterson 12.73 to 9.94.
Wright will next take on Caitlin Simmers, who was the stand-out surfer of the day in her win over fellow Southern Californian Bella Kenworthy.
Simmers scored 16.50 - the best heat total of the event so far - rewarded for her relentless backhand variety.
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In heat four an emotional Carissa Moore was left in tears after pulling off a clutch air in the final seconds to down Costa Rica's Brisa Hennessy.
The Hawaiian great went big at the end section with a grab-rail air-reverse to earn a winning score of 5.80 with no time left on the clock.
Current rankings leader Gabriela Bryan, also from Hawaii, moved through to the quarter-finals with a victory over Portugal's Yolanda Hopkins.
The men's competition is up to round three with Jack Robinson set to take on three-time world champion Gabriel Medina while Liam O'Brien and Callum Robson meet in an all-Australian showdown.
