Jack Robinson and Molly Picklum pitted into elimination heats, Ethan Ewing and Tyler Wright into round 3 at Paris Olympics

Aussie surfer Jack Robinson was controversially pitted into a second round elimination along with Molly Picklum while compatriots Ethan Ewing and Tyler Wright have progressed to round 3 on the back of heat wins. Hear from each athlete now.

Jack Robinson faces a around two repechage. Picture: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Jack Robinson feels he did enough to win his round 1 heat that was controversially given to Frenchman Joan Duru.

The Aussie charger’s Olympic campaign is hanging by a thread after finishing second in a three-man heat, plunging him into a round two repechage where a loss would result in elimination.

Robinson shrugged off injury to take control early and looked set to join compatriot Ethan Ewing in round three of the men’s surfing at the famous left-hand surf break of Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Sunday (AEST).

But a score dropped in the final minutes for Duru, who produced a two-wave total of 13.84, was enough to beat Robinson (13.36) and South Africa’s Matthew McGillivray (5.26).

Duru’s final wave was given a 7.67 by the judges, a score bigger than the 7.33 given to Ewing for his scintillating first wave in the opening heat.

Jack Robinson’s campaign is hanging by a thread. Picture: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Robinson, 26, was unflappable in the aftermath and had already steeled himself for the elimination round where he will face Peruvian Lucca Mesinas.

“I feel good. I feel like I won but it’s all good,” Robinson said.

“I’ll just keep going. I didn’t see the wave he got at the end (but) it’s all part of it.”

Robinson showed no signs of discomfort from the cut sustained to his right ankle in practice just days ago in positive signs for the Aussie.

“(The ankle) feels good. You always have little niggles but it feels good. You don’t think about that when you get out there.”

Meanwhile, Ewing is four wins away from gold after he bookended his heat with two scores that propelled him straight into the third round.

The opening wave of the first heat provided the platform for the North Stradbroke athlete to set the standard for the event.

Ethan Ewingis straight through to the third round. Picture: Ben Thouard/Pool/Gett Images

The 25-year-old tucked under the lip of one of the world’s heaviest waves and sat behind the curtain of water before shooting out and completing a backside carve.

It followed a jostle for priority between Ewing and South African Jordy Smith. The surfer positioned on the inside gets first choice for any incoming wave.

Smith and Tim Elter (Germany) managed multiple waves early and the former edged into the lead at one point.

But a wave with just over a minute remaining gave Ewing the 9.90 two-wave total needed to progress ahead of Smith (7.60) and Elter (4.0).

Ethan Ewing of Team Australia during round one of surfing in Teahupo'o, French Polynesia. Picture: Ed Sloane/Getty Images

“I wanted to go for the inside and go for the first wave but Jordy was really aggressive so I had to play a bit of tactics there,” Ewing said.

“He was pretty deep so I was lucky he didn’t go and I got it. It definitely calmed the nerves.

“I was pretty calm up until maybe the four minute mark. Then I was (thinking) there might not be a set (of waves) coming.

“I was saying to myself as soon as it gets to the 1 minute mark I’ll paddle deep.

“I needed such a low score but I was worried if I went too early and got an average score a set could come and Jordy could overtake me again. I had to time it right and it worked out in the end.”

In the women’s category Tyler Wright showed grit in tough conditions to progress to round three while compatriot Molly Picklum faces sudden death in round two after finishing third in a super heat.

The ocean went quiet for heat three on Sunday (AEST) and despite Wright’s best efforts the two-time world champion struggled to get into a tube at Teahupo’o.

But her 7.67 total on the back of scores of 4.17 and 3.50 were enough to beat Israel’s Anat Lelior (5.43) and Canadia’s Sanoa Dempfle-Olin (4.83).

Wright said learning to maximise imperfect waves during crowded free surfs leading into the competition set her up to claim a gritty win.

“I wasn’t getting 10s but I was happy with this performance,” Wright said.

“I liked the technicality of it. I liked how I played under priority and used different situations to my advantage.

“It’s a lot of intel to build off as well. (When there was) 16 people out in a free surf, I’m probably not going to be the person to wait for the best waves and that was the first opportunity to explore the whole reef. That was fun and I was really happy with that.”

Picklum was in the toughest heat of the day and will need to fight for her survival on day two after finishing behind heat four winner Caitlin Simmers (12.93) and Tatiana Weston-Webb (10.33).

The 21-year-old had numerous opportunities to push for the lead but fell in critical moments and will now face French athlete Johanne Defay in round two.

“I just took off on a couple of waves and read them a bit wrong,” Picklum said.

“At the end of the day I had the opportunities and some nice barrels and if I came out of one we would have seen a pretty big score.

“I get another heat, another opportunity. This is part of the process and I’m excited.”

US athlete Caroline Marks put the best heat score together on day one (17.93) while compatriot John John Florence produced the best two-wave score for the men (17.33).