One-armed wildcard topples Aussie surfers

Australian surfers Tyler Wright and Stephanie Gilmore have been beaten at the Fiji Pro by one-armed Hawaiian wildcard Bethany Hamilton.

Australian surfer Tyler Wright

Australian surfer Tyler Wright has been knocked out in the second round of the Fiji Pro. (AAP)

One-armed Hawaiian wildcard Bethany Hamilton has pulled off upset wins over two of Australia's best female surfers at the Fiji Pro.

After eliminating world ratings leader Tyler Wright in the second round, Hamilton backed it up to beat six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in the third round at Cloudbreak.

Gilmore was them dumped out of the event in the fourth round by countrywoman Nikki van Dijk, making it the six-time world champ's worst finish of 2016.

"It's probably been like that the whole year for me," said Gilmore.

"I'll just keep re-assessing and go and work on things.

"I don't know what it is - it's probably more a mental thing."

On a day of mixed results for Australians, 2009 world junior champion Laura Enever produced the event's first perfect-10 ride to give defending world champion Carissa Moore a scare.

Enever bounced back to beat another Hawaiian, Malia Manuel, in round four.

However it was Wright's loss to Hamilton which caused the biggest stir.

The 22-year-old Australian - who won three of the year's opening four events - was toppled in a high-scoring early-morning heat.

Wright produced scores of 7.33 and 7.57 to put herself in a commanding position with 10 minutes remaining in the heat before Hamilton, who lost an arm in a shark attack when she was 13 in 2003, produced a whopping nine-point ride to win by 1.20.

Hamilton proved her win was no fluke by taking down Gilmore by 0.70 in their third round heat with a combined score of 15.47.

Australia's Sally Fitzgibbons won her third-round heat with a combined score of 16.37, returning to the same beach where she suffered a perforated eardrum in winning her second successive Fiji Pro last year.

The two other Australians in the event, Keely Andrew and Bronte Macaulay, were eliminated in the second round by South Africa's Bianca Buitendag and Enever respectively.


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Source: AAP


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