Day one of the Margaret River Pro has started on Friday afternoon at North Point with swells building from 1.2 metres to 1.8m.
With a series of holds this morning, Men's Round one will begin with the women’s event has been called offfor the day.
World Surf League commissioner Kieren Perrow said they called the competition at North Point to wait for the swell to fill in.
“We are now seeing some solid surf out at North Point. We will try to complete as much as we can of that first round,” he said.
Brazil’s Caio Ibelli pulled out of the event yesterday after breaking his foot which saw Margaret River’s Jack Robinson join the competition to take Ibelli’s place.
Robinson beat fellow surfer Jerome Forrest in a 25-minute heat ahead of the main event decider
Hawaii’s John John Florence will match-up with 2018 CT rookie Wade Carmichael from Australia and event wildcard Mikey Wright.
This round one heat will be a rematch for Florence and Wright, who notoriously did battle on the Gold Coast earlier this season with Wright gaining the upper hand.
Equal Jeep Leader from Australia Julian Wilson hopes for redemption after a poor result at Bells as he gets his Margaret River Pro campaign underway against rookie Jesse Mendes from Brazil and trials winner Dave Delroy-Carr.
Surfline, WSL forecast partner, is calling for:
Solid SW swell will build in through the day on Friday with a likely peak later Friday into Saturday morning.
Wind looks unfavorable SSW to S on Friday, with improving wind (SE) for the first half of Saturday.
Fading surf and favorable morning wind looks likely for Sun-Mon. Mid size W swell looks possible Wednesday to Thursday, with a solid SW swell possible for the tail end of the event window around the 20th-21st.
Margaret River Men’s Pro Round 1 Matchups:
Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Connor O’Leary (AUS), Keanu Asing (HAW)
Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Tomas Hermes (BRA), Ian Gouveia (BRA)
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS), Miguel Pupo (BRA), TBD
Heat 4: John John Florence (HAW), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Mikey Wright (AUS)
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Joan Duru (FRA), Kael Walsh (AUS)
Heat 6: Julian Wilson (AUS), Jesse Mendes (BRA), Dave Delroy-Carr (AUS)
Heat 7: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Conner Coffin (USA), Michael February (ZAF)
Heat 8: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), Yago Dora (BRA)
Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Griffin Colapinto (USA), Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 10: Italo Ferreira (BRA), Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Michael Rodrigues (BRA)
Heat 11: Kolohe Andino (USA), Frederico Morais (PRT), Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Heat 12: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Michel Bourez (PYF), Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Margaret River Women’s Pro Round 1 Matchups:
Heat 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Silvana Lima (BRA), Coco Ho (HAW)
Heat 2: Carissa Moore (HAW), Sage Erickson (USA), Bronte Macaulay (AUS)
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Keely Andrew (AUS), Mikaela Greene (AUS)
Heat 4: Lakey Peterson (USA), Caroline Marks (USA), Paige Hareb (NZL)
Heat 5: Tyler Wright (AUS), Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW), Macy Callaghan (AUS)
Heat 6: Johanne Defay (FRA), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS), Malia Manuel (HAW)
