Aussies take down Brazilian stars as Cloudbreak fires up

Australia’s Kai Otton and Adrian Buchan have knocked the world’s top two-ranked surfers off their pedestals at the Fiji Pro.

Taj Burrow on the way to winning his first round heat during round one of the Fiji Pro at Cloudbreak yesterday.

Surfing: Australia’s Kai Otton and Adrian Buchan have knocked the world’s top two-ranked surfers off their pedestals in an opening morning of upsets at the Fiji Pro.

Thirtieth-ranked Otton demolished world No 1 Brazilian Adriano de Souza in their round-one heat at Cloudbreak, while Adrian Buchan, also ranked equal 30th, made light work of Brazil’s world No 2 Filipe Toledo.

Otton sped away with big opening-wave scores of 8.17 and 7.43 via some smooth work on the break. The 35-year-old from NSW couldn’t be caught as de Souza managed a total score of only 8.86 — just over half of his Australian counterpart’s 15.60 — while Fiji’s Inia Nakalevu trailed on 5.30. It means de Souza will have to fight for his life in a second-round elimination heat while Otton skips safely to the third round.

Joining Otton will be Buchan, who scored a tremendous 15.16 to leave a struggling Toledo and America’s Dane Reynolds far ­behind.

It was a straightforward day for many Aussies as they finally got down to business following five consecutive lay days due to small swell. Three-time world champion Mick Fanning prevailed over New Zealand’s Ricardo Christie and local Aca Ravulo, while Taj Burrow also went through to round three at the expense of compatriot Matt Banting and Spaniard Aritz Aranburu.

Things weren’t so positive for world No 3 Josh Kerr and injury-wildcard Jay Davies, who were both beaten by Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas and will now face elimination heats.

Davies put in an impressive performance with the heat’s top wave score of 8.17, but he was let down by a weak follow-up of just 2.40, allowing the sprightly Dantas to sneak past on his final effort.

Fifth-ranked Owen Wright (13.67) also went down by a whisker to Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz (14.00) in a heat also featuring Hawaii’s Dusty Payne. Earlier, Brazil’s Alejo Muniz pulled off the first big upset in defeating 11-time world champion Kelly Slater in a heat in which the American’s compatriot Kolohe Andino also lost out.

AAP