Young gun Molly Picklum will continue the Australian charge into the quarter-finals at the World Surf League season-opening event in Hawaii, but conditions at the Banzai Pipeline kept the men out of the surf again.
Picklum, who won the event in 2023 and was runner-up last year, was in action twice on Thursday as surfing resumed after a long break in testy conditions. She won both her heat and then a round-of-16 clash.
The 22-year-old joined two-time world champion Tyler Wright and Isabella Nichols in making it through to the final eight, with Nichols producing the best scoring wave of the day.
“I saw Isabella Nichols get a bomb and a couple of sick rides so I was all fired up,” Picklum said.
“I’m learning that I definitely love that chaotic because it matches me and my personality.
“I’m right at home when it’s crazy.”
But veteran Sally Fitzgibbons’ return to the elite tour didn’t go to plan, with the 34-year-old bundled out in the elimination round, having also finished last in her opening heat last week.
Fitzgibbons has missed the mid-season cut for the past three seasons but earnt her way back to the main tour to start 2025 with victories on the second-tier, including at the US Open of Surfing late in 2024.
The six Australian men through to the round of 32, including world no.2 Jack Robinson, have been cooling their heels for days as officials wait for the perfect conditions in a window for the event getting narrower, with February 8 the cut-off.
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