Upsets at Quiksilver Pro this morning, surfing off until 2.15pm start at Snapper Rocks
THE third morning of the Quiksilver Pro has seen two upsets with Julian Wilson knocked out by Hawaiian injury wildcard Sebastian Zietz.
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UPDATE: ACTION will resume in the Quiksilver Pro at 2.15pm after officials saw strong signs waves will stand up this afternoon as the tide recedes at Snapper Rocks.
Officials are keen to push through and finish Round 2 but it is likely to be too dark to get through all nine remaining heats by the end of the day.
The competition has been on hold since the tide came in this morning.
Adam Melling and Josh Kerr will hit the water in Heat 4 of Round 2 when competition resumes.
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THE third morning of the Quiksilver Pro has seen two upsets with Queenslander Julian Wilson being knocked out by Hawaiian injury wildcard Sebastian Zietz in round two of the event.
Eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater has also been booted by Lennox Head shredder Stuart Kennedy in rippable head high waves at Snapper Rocks.
After just three heats this morning World Surfing League commissioner Kieran Perrow has put the competition on hold until at least 12.30pm.
He said he was waiting for high tide to begin to drop which would create better conditions for surfers.
EARLIER: SALLY Fitzgibbons has had her worst ever performance of her life in a world tour event after losing a second round elimination heat to an injury wildcard at the Roxy Pro at Snapper Rocks.
In eight years at the highest tier of the sport Fitzgibbon has never lost a second round heat.
And West Australia’s Bronte Macaulay, 22, was the surfer who broke the record.
Shortly after spending some time with fans on the beach directly after the loss Fitzgibbons said she was already focusing on the second event at Bells Beach.
“I spent a bit of time and took a bit of energy from them (the fans),” the 25-year-old said.
“I really can’t wait for Bells then I guess and I’ll lead up to that the same (as this event) and just never give up.
The three-time world champion runner up said in hindsight she could have had better wave selection.
Macaulay won with a combined heat total of 16.50 over Fitzgibbons’ score of 14.94.
“Everyone is just surfing at such a high level and in hindsight you’ve got to get the best waves and you’ve got to be switched on for the full 30 minutes,” Fitzgibbon said.
“That’s professional surfing I guess.
“I would have loved to have made it through to round three.”
It comes painfully after Fitzgibbons told the Bulletin that she hoped a maiden Roxy Pro title could be a springboard to a first world championship earlier in the week.
“I definitely want to start out each year just envisioning being on top of the leaderboard and ... hopefully the Roxy Pro will be mine this year,” she said.
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