Australian surfers have endured mixed fortunes after a big day of competition at the season-opening World Surf League event on the Gold Coast.
Defending event champion Matt Wilkinson and local favourite Joel Parkinson have both successfully won their way through to the fourth round of the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on Friday.
But wildcard Mikey Wright and Stuart Kennedy have both fallen after their third round heats against John John Florence and Adriano de Souza.
Wright started strongly against defending world champion Florence with an 8.50 but a late 7.90 by the Hawaiian was enough to give him the victory.
"I was good to get that one at the start, but unfortunately I couldn't find a second," Wright said.
"This has me fired up to get busy on the QS (qualifying series) and qualify next year, and if not next year, I will keep going until I do."
2015 world champion de Souza proved too strong for Kennedy, who was unable to replicate his heroics last year where he charged to the semi-finals.
"Coming up against Stuart Kennedy was crazy," de Souza said.
"He is an animal in competition and it was a great battle."
There were no such worries for Parkinson and Wilkinson however.
2012 world champion Parkinson scored a two-wave total of 17.24 to prove too strong for Brazil's Miguel Pupo.
"Round three can sometimes be a stumbling block for me, but I came out of the gates well," Parkinson said.
"Snapper and I have a mutual relationship. I definitely love surfing here and it's proved to love me back."
Wilkinson's 15.10 out of 20 was enough to eliminate France's Jeremy Flores and keep his Quiksilver Pro title defence on track.
"Before the event, I thought I was going to absolutely blow it and I was pretty wound up. All the pressure fell off when I went out there," he said.
"It's good fun to surf this wave with no one out there. Making it past the third round is already a great result, but I'm not done."
Brazilian Italo Ferriera, who nailed a dazzling 540-degree mid-air spin to record a perfect 10 earlier in the day, backed up that effort with a 9.77 early in his round three heat win over compatriot Caio Ibelli.
Head judge Rich Porta labelled Ferriera's aerial effort a moment of "amazing brilliance".
"That will be a highlight at the end of the year, I guarantee it," Porta said.
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