The Margaret River Pro, stop number three on the World Surf League Championship Tour, has completed men’s elimination round two in solid six-to-eight foot conditions at Main Break.
Ranked 26th, Cronulla’s Connor O’Leary got out of jail after a bad first round loss in average conditions at North Point, the backup event site known for some of the longest and most intense barrels in the world, which challenged the surfers in the first seven heats of men’s round one.
Surfing in the first heat of the contest O’Leary didn't catch a wave worth more than three points and was beaten into sudden death round two by Hawaiian Keanu Asing and fellow Aussie Matt Wilkinson.
Round two could have ruined O’Leary’s season but against in form American Patrick Gudauskas he took the heat to him scoring a seven on their opening exchange doing two punchy committed vertical turns and ending up on the rock shelf, making Gudauskas search for an excellent score.
“I was committed on the inside, I needed a finishing turn to make the wave count-but it’s all good, no damage done,” O’Leary said after Gudauskas caught his best wave with 15 seconds left.
Needing a 7.7 he came close with a 6.7 but fell short sending O’Leary into round three to surf against Michel Bourez.
In the womens there isn’t much silverware that six-time WSL Champion Stephanie Gilmore doesn’t have in her trophy cabinet but a Margaret River Pro trophy is one that still eludes her. On Tuesday Gilmore moved one step closer to achieving this goal with an epic display of style and finesse to progress into the Quarterfinal where she will match-up with hometown hero Bronte Macaulay.
Back in NSW beachgoers are being urged to remain vigilant both in and around the water in coming days as a developing swell has prompted the Bureau of Meteorology and Surf Life Saving to issue a warning for hazardous surf conditions.
Although not as large as swells of recent weeks, the forecast conditions are still expected to pack a punch as it continues to build into Wednesday-Peaks of over 2 metres are expected in some areas.
Cronulla surfers were blessed with the best week of the year so far after the last 7 days of perfect conditions.
From 6ft plus on Wednesday to 5ft,4ft 3ft, 2ft-the week had everything going for it and offshore everyday,it was as good as the beaches get.
Swellnet predicts this week that after Tuesday mornings southerly we will have some strong south swells from Wednesday, Thursday with 4-6ft sets with early morning light winds.
Friday we have easing but still strong South swells, with more light winds,into the weekend where saturday is small but on Sunday, a new long period S’ly swell is expected to arrive.
Meanwhile in Sumatra,the 2018 Krui Pro started in excellent conditions with four-to-six foot long left-handers on offer for the eager crop of professional surfers from all over the globe
Cronulla’s Jared Hickel won his first round heat as the call was made to run men’s Round 1 and the first half of Round 2 of the men’s QS1,500 division while the women’s QS1,000 was called off for the day.
Yesterday the 2018 Krui Pro ran though the last four heats of men’s Round 2 and went straight into the women’s QS1,000 division. The surf was slightly smaller than yesterday in the three to four foot range, but there was still plenty of long perfect-peeling lefts on offer and Hickel made the most of it winning his second round heat.
Jared now surfs in heat 6 of round three and Connor should be surfing in his round three heat in Margaret River-Up UP!
