Australian Owen Wright's quest to avoid the World Surf League's mid-season cut has continued with the Olympic bronze medallist reaching the quarter-finals of the Bells Beach Pro.
Wright came out on top in a tense round-of-16 heat against Nat Young in pumping conditions on Friday, putting together a two-wave total of 16.40 out of 20 to eliminate the American (15.77) and reach the last eight.
It's already the 32-year-old's best result of 2022 as he quests to improve his lowly ranking before the tour field is cut to 24 after the next stop of the year at Margaret River, WA.
Coming into Bells in equal 31st on the rankings, Wright got off to a fast start with an 8.67 on just his second wave of the heat.
He and fellow goofy-footer Young traded blows in a high-scoring contest, Young's 8.10 on his third wave setting up a tense finish to the half-hour heat.
Wright fired back with a 7.73 on his fifth wave, leaving Young needing an 8.31 to take the lead and the American was unable to find that score allowing the Australian to advance.
Wright is one of eight Australians left in the men's draw, including three-time world champion Mick Fanning.
The 40-year-old, who has come out of retirement to chase a fifth Bells crown as a wildcard, reached the last 16 after eliminating world No.1 Kanoa Igarashi in an upset on Thursday.
Fanning will face compatriot Callum Robson for a spot in the quarter-finals.
That's one of two all-Australian clashes in the round-of-16 with Merewether giant-killer Jackson Baker taking on top-ranked Aussie man Ethan Ewing.
Other Australians still in the competition included Morgan Cibilic, taking on 2019 Bells winner John John Florence, while Connor O'Leary is up against Brazil's Filipe Toledo.
With light off-shore winds and waves up to 3.5 metres, conditions are expected to be good enough for organisers to potentially even run the men's or women's quarter-finals later in the day.
© AAP 2022
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/surfing-wollongong-shellharbour-4791216/ (free image - for illustration purposes only)