Australian wildcard Xavier Huxtable delivered a stunning performance at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, defeating world No.1 Italo Ferreira in a dramatic heat on Friday.
Huxtable, who earned his spot in the competition through a victory in the Victorian trials, made an immediate impact, overcoming Ferreira with a score of 13.66 to 9.67 in the round of 32. The heat was held at the iconic Bells Bowl, with four-to-six-foot waves providing a challenging but exhilarating backdrop.
The result marked a major upset in the competition, as Ferreira had defeated Huxtable in their previous heat. However, on Friday, Huxtable’s performance proved too strong, advancing him to the next stage of the event. The men’s round of 16 will follow shortly, with more thrilling action expected over the weekend.
The conditions for the event were initially delayed on Friday morning, with organizers waiting for nearly two hours before resuming competition in clean, favorable waves.
Ferreira’s defeat was not the only shock of the day. Moroccan surfer Ramzi Boukhiam, who was also competing in the same heat, suffered a freak knee injury and was forced to withdraw from the event.
In other notable results, American surfer Jake Marshall delivered the standout performance of the competition thus far, posting scores of 9.33 and 9.00 to defeat Brazil’s Joao Chianca with a total of 18.33. Chianca, despite an impressive 8.07 wave score, could not overcome Marshall’s dominant heat.
The women’s competition also saw a series of surprises. Defending champion Caitlin Simmers from the U.S. and Australia’s No.3 ranked Molly Picklum were eliminated in the women’s round of 16, adding to the drama of the event.
Australian surfers George Pittar and Jack Robinson also faced tough competition in the round of 32. Pittar fell to Brazil’s two-time world champion Filipe Toledo, while Robinson advanced with an impressive score of 16.13, beating American surfer Jackson Bunch.
Ethan Ewing, the only Australian male Rip Curl Pro champion in the field, will kick off the round of 16 on Saturday with a heat against fellow Australian Connor O’Leary, who now competes for Japan and represented the country at the Paris Olympics.
With the quarter-finals in sight, the competition is heating up, and all eyes are now on the surfers vying for a coveted spot in the final stages of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.