Even with an overwhelming majority of heats falling in favor of higher-seeded surfers in the Margaret River Pro’s Round of 32, “Elimination Day” was a rollercoaster. Eleven surfers needed to advance from their Round of 32 heats in order to avoid the mid-season cut but when the dust settled only two were able to advance and extend their campaigns: Jadson Andre and Matthew McGillivray.
McGillivray’s performance was probably the most impressive win, surfing like a man possessed against World number two, Kanoa Igarashi. He posted a 14.43 two-wave total in the closing minutes after getting backed into a combo scenario. Jadson Andre won later in the day in ho-hum fashion after posting a 7.43 and 5.17 before Kelly Slater could catch a single wave. The rest of the heat was spent watching Slater play catch up and with little to no jockeying or strategy needed from Andre. Slater still wasn’t able to make up the difference. Andre took the win and secured his spot above the cut line while McGillavry still needs a Quarterfinals appearance on Finals Day. As mentioned, the rest of the field fell in seeded order, ending the CT run of a total of 13 surfers. The Challenger Series starts almost immediately at Snapper on May 7.
Leo Fioravanti was one of them on Wednesday. The Italian put on a show against Ethan Ewing, posting three waves higher than seven but it was still not enough to overcome Ewing’s 9 and 8.93 — the only two waves Ewing surfed the entire heat. That unfortunate loss put him below the line with Deivid Silva, Lucca Mesinsa, Ezekial Lau, Frederico Morais, Ryan Callinan, Joao Chianca, Conner Coffin, Morgan Cibilic, Imaikalani deVault, Carlos Munoz, Yago Dora, and Liam O’Brien. Every loss felt heavy, with disappointed surfers being consoled by tour mates.
In the end Owen Wright and McGillivray were the only two surfers whose fate hadn’t been decided by the end of the Round of 32. Wright was granted one of the WSL’s CT wildcards for the year and now his fate is entirely in McGillivray’s hands after falling to Miguel Pupo. McGillivray can end Wright’s season with a Round of 16 win over Samuel Pupo or be relegated to the Challenger Series himself with a loss.
So, Finals Day at the Margaret River Pro won’t be without drama even though just one heat decides the controversial mid-season cut. From here on out the Championship Tour will be 100 percent focused on the remaining surfers fighting for spots in the Top-5 of the rankings.
