Aussie rookie Connor O’Leary ousts Kelly Slater at Fiji’s Cloudbreak

Aussie rookie Connor O’Leary has ousted surfing legend Kelly Slater on a day of carnage for the big guns at the Fiji Pro.

Australia’s Connor O’Leary on his way to knocking Kelly Slater out of the Fiji Pro yesterday.

Australian rookie Con­­nor O’Leary has ousted surfing legend Kelly Slater on a day of carnage for the big guns at the Fiji Pro at Cloudbreak.

Ranked 15th in his debut World Surf League season, O’Leary, 23, triumphed over the 11-time world champion in a close third-round heat yesterday in small 4-5ft waves.

Others to be eliminated as the third round was completed after several lay days were rankings leader John John Florence, second-placed Jordy Smith, third-placed Adriano De Souza and three-time world champion Mick Fanning.

O’Leary joined fellow Aussies Matt Wilkinson, Julian Wilson, Joel Parkinson, Bede Durbidge and Stuart Kennedy in filling half the positions in round four.

With just 0.40 of a point ­separating them, O’Leary secured a 10.74 score while Slater waited but could not find the wave to improve on his 10.34 and exits the Fiji event early.

“It is always tough to win (when the heat is) that low-­scoring, but I am over the moon,” said O’Leary.

Slater described it as “tricky day”. “You’ve seen other experienced guys that you’d expect to win out here losing. It’s been total decimation of the top seeds and it’s played into the hands of the underdogs,” the American said.

Another rookie, Leonardo Fioravanti of Italy, put a dent in Florence’s world title campaign, securing only his second heat win on tour this season as he produced some aggressive snaps for a 16.83 (out of 20) two-wave score.

Fanning was eliminated by Tahiti’s in-form Michel Bourez. The win came down to the last exchange, where Bourez landed a 6.53 ride over Fanning’s 5.53.

The rookie takedowns continued as South African Smith fell to Joan Duru of France, also copping his worst result this season.

In the last heat of the day, Kennedy eliminated de Souza, the 2015 world champion, with a 14.83 combined-score.

AAP