AN all-Australian third round heat at the Rio Pro awaits Keely Andrew after she snatched victory over Hawaii’s Malia Manuel in the dying seconds of their round two clash.
Andrew trailed late on Sunday and needed a score of 4.60 or greater to progress to round three, and she picked up a 4.77 as time expired to eliminate Manuel from the fourth stop on the World Surf League tour.
“That heat was a bit frustrating at first,” Andrew said.
“I had a couple of really small scores but other than that I’m happy with how I’m surfing at the moment. I’m definitely leaving that last heat with a lot more confidence.”
The 23-year-old will next face top seeds Tyler Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons for a place in the fourth round.
In 1-1.2m surf at Saquarema in Brazil, local favourite Silvana Lima also progressed when she beat 2017 rookie of the year Bronte Macaulay of Australia. “The lefts were breaking against the current and you’d end up losing speed on them, so I decided to focus on the rights,” Lima said.
“But I also knew that Bronte’s (Macaulay) strong point is her backside surfing, so I stayed close to her to make it a little harder for her to catch the rights.” When round three begins, Wright, Fitzgibbons and Andrew are first up in heat one.
Heat two will feature Stephanie Gilmore and Nikki Van Dijk, the only other Australian women left in contention, who will take to the water with American Caroline Marks.
The men’s event is yet to start.