The first two days of the waiting period saw expected minimal swell and action at the Margaret River Pro didn’t get underway until Friday. But even when the competitors were given the go, the waves were sometimes haphazard, hostile and unpredictable in nature at North Point.
Despite the rough conditions, most of the Hawaii contingent actually performed much better than the rest of the world as a collective. On the men’s side, Keanu Asing, John John Florence and Sebastian Zietz all won their first-round heats to move directly into round three.
Florence shook off some of the rust that has seemed to plague him at the start of 2018 by putting up the best heat total of the opening day. As has been the case for much of his career, the ocean just seems to gravitate towards Florence in a way that no other surfer can replicate. He found a beautiful barrel to hide for a quick ride and took a 7.77 score for a 14.60 total. That was enough to outpoint Mikey Wright and Wade Carmichael, a nice bit of revenge for having been eliminated by Wright on the Gold Coast.
But with Wright’s second-round victory on Saturday over Ace Buchan, he and Florence will match up yet again in the third round. It’s already a crucial heat for Florence as he looks to overcome a slow start that has him tied for 26th place coming into this contest. Another upset by Wright would put Florence in an extremely tough spot if he has real plans for a third straight world title.
Asing earned the win in the first heat of the event by locating maybe the best barrel of the day and getting deep for an 8.00 score. There was very little else to come by throughout the session and his 10.70 total was enough to get by Matt Wilkinson and Connor O’Leary. It’s a good start for Asing, who fell in round two at both Snapper Rocks and Bells Beach. He’s now guaranteed a better result here.
For Zietz, Margaret River will always be a special event. This is where he won his first Championship Tour contest in 2016 and while round one was a major struggle, the water continued to provide him with just enough. The heat never got off the ground and Zietz had to grind out a win with just a 5.40 two-wave total. He managed to get by Italo Ferreira and Michael Rodrigues as all three competitors were stymied and frustrated at the lack of opportunities.
Ferreira, who is tied with Julian Wilson for the points lead heading into the event, scraped by on Saturday with a 13.67 to 13.16 win over Miguel Pupo to also move into round three.
Ezekiel Lau was the only Hawaii surfer not to win in round one, so he was relegated to a second-round elimination matchup with Conner Coffin. Results of that Saturday heat were not available as of press time.
Aussie wild card Kael Walsh picked up an upset win on Saturday, eliminating Wilkinson in round two. Rookie Michael February did the same to Frederico Morais. Michel Bourez and Owen Wright took care of business in their elimination heats to also move into round three.
The women’s event completed its first round Friday with most of the favorites picking up wins. Sally Fitzgibbons, Carissa Moore and Stephanie Gilmore earned victories in the first three heats before rookie Caroline Marks won against Lakey Peterson and Paige Hareb in heat four. It’s getting more and more difficult to describe any Marks win as an “upset” since she seems to already be a major force in her first year on tour. She came into Margaret River ranked third after two events.
Tatiana Weston-Webb then earned a big win over Tyler Wright and Macy Callaghan to jump straight into round three. Weston-Webb sits in fifth place entering Margaret River, where she has a solid history. She has a quarterfinal and semifinal appearance among her three results at this event and she’ll look to reach finals day again with just one more heat win.
Malia Manuel just missed out on a heat win and earned every bit of her 10.17 points. She got sucked out to the rocks and needed the water patrol to get back outside and return safely to the lineup. Manuel will take on Keely Andrew in the second round when women’s action resumes. With one throwaway score already on her ledger, it’s a fairly important heat for Manuel this early in the year.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
