Fan favourite suffers double blow at Margaret River
With surfing resuming at the West Australian break on Monday after a three-day wait, Fitzgibbons was one of five Australian women in the round of 16.
Molly Picklum, Isabella Nichols and local wildcard Bronte Macaulay all won their match-ups, while Tyler Wright went down.
Fitzgibbons needed to beat Bryan, the defending Margaret Pro champion, to avoid the top-10 mid-season cut for the third successive year.
A victory in the heat would also secure 14th-ranked Fitzgibbons a place on the 2026 Championship Tour after the WSL announced a larger women's field next year.
If Wright had beaten Lakey Peterson, Fitzgibbons would have requalified, but instead the Californian veteran took the final spot, sending the Australian back to the Challenger Series.
Fitzgibbons opened their heat by attacking a wave to earn a 6.83, and with Bryan uncharacteristically falling off a few waves, the 34-year-old NSW surfer looked in control.
She bettered her back-up score with a nervous 4.33, leaving Bryan requiring a 7.33 score to reach the quarter-finals.
But with 90 seconds remaining the Hawaiian launched on to a wave and showed off her power moves in a two-turn combination, wowing the judges to score a 9.00 to take out the heat.
An emotional Fitzgibbons stayed out in the water, devastated to have let the win - and the opportunities it secured - slip away.
"I think for the first, like, 98 per cent of that heat it was all going against me, I could not get it together," Bryan said.
"I'm like, I just need to do two big turns, and I hit the first one as hard as I could and then I was like, OK, just finish this thing, and it all worked out. So I was so stoked that wave came."
World No.3 Picklum and 31-year-old wildcard Macaulay met in the quarter-finals with the Margaret River surfer prevailing in an upset, 15.00 to 12.54.
Chasing the title her dad Dave won in 1989, Macaulay, who announced her retirement late last year to pursue a teaching career, will next face American Caitlin Simmers.
Former champions Nichols and Peterson then squared off, with the latter continuing her impressive form to advance 16.34 to 14.33.
Peterson - who will take on Bryan in the semis - also cemented a spot above the mid-season cut line.
In the men's quarter-finals local qualifier Jacob Willcox, who was the sole Australian remaining, was outclassed by a hungry Crosby Colapinto 15.66 to 11.10.
He will next meet South African veteran Jordy Smith, who took over the rankings lead with his win over Hawaiian Imaikalani deVault.
Older brother Griffin Colapinto posted a perfect 10 for a soaring, spinning aerial as he booked a semi-final berth against another Hawaiian Barron Mamiya, with the title to be decided Tuesday.
Sally Fitzgibbons has suffered more heartbreak at Margaret River, with the veteran enduring a cruel loss to world No.1 Gabriela Bryan that has also wrecked her start to next season.
With surfing resuming at the West Australian break on Monday after a three-day wait, Fitzgibbons was one of five Australian women in the round of 16.
Molly Picklum, Isabella Nichols and local wildcard Bronte Macaulay all won their match-ups, while Tyler Wright went down.
Fitzgibbons needed to beat Bryan, the defending Margaret Pro champion, to avoid the top-10 mid-season cut for the third successive year.
A victory in the heat would also secure 14th-ranked Fitzgibbons a place on the 2026 Championship Tour after the WSL announced a larger women's field next year.
If Wright had beaten Lakey Peterson, Fitzgibbons would have requalified, but instead the Californian veteran took the final spot, sending the Australian back to the Challenger Series.
Fitzgibbons opened their heat by attacking a wave to earn a 6.83, and with Bryan uncharacteristically falling off a few waves, the 34-year-old NSW surfer looked in control.
She bettered her back-up score with a nervous 4.33, leaving Bryan requiring a 7.33 score to reach the quarter-finals.
But with 90 seconds remaining the Hawaiian launched on to a wave and showed off her power moves in a two-turn combination, wowing the judges to score a 9.00 to take out the heat.
An emotional Fitzgibbons stayed out in the water, devastated to have let the win - and the opportunities it secured - slip away.
"I think for the first, like, 98 per cent of that heat it was all going against me, I could not get it together," Bryan said.
"I'm like, I just need to do two big turns, and I hit the first one as hard as I could and then I was like, OK, just finish this thing, and it all worked out. So I was so stoked that wave came."
World No.3 Picklum and 31-year-old wildcard Macaulay met in the quarter-finals with the Margaret River surfer prevailing in an upset, 15.00 to 12.54.
Chasing the title her dad Dave won in 1989, Macaulay, who announced her retirement late last year to pursue a teaching career, will next face American Caitlin Simmers.
Former champions Nichols and Peterson then squared off, with the latter continuing her impressive form to advance 16.34 to 14.33.
Peterson - who will take on Bryan in the semis - also cemented a spot above the mid-season cut line.
In the men's quarter-finals local qualifier Jacob Willcox, who was the sole Australian remaining, was outclassed by a hungry Crosby Colapinto 15.66 to 11.10.
He will next meet South African veteran Jordy Smith, who took over the rankings lead with his win over Hawaiian Imaikalani deVault.
Older brother Griffin Colapinto posted a perfect 10 for a soaring, spinning aerial as he booked a semi-final berth against another Hawaiian Barron Mamiya, with the title to be decided Tuesday.
Sally Fitzgibbons has suffered more heartbreak at Margaret River, with the veteran enduring a cruel loss to world No.1 Gabriela Bryan that has also wrecked her start to next season.
With surfing resuming at the West Australian break on Monday after a three-day wait, Fitzgibbons was one of five Australian women in the round of 16.
Molly Picklum, Isabella Nichols and local wildcard Bronte Macaulay all won their match-ups, while Tyler Wright went down.
Fitzgibbons needed to beat Bryan, the defending Margaret Pro champion, to avoid the top-10 mid-season cut for the third successive year.
A victory in the heat would also secure 14th-ranked Fitzgibbons a place on the 2026 Championship Tour after the WSL announced a larger women's field next year.
If Wright had beaten Lakey Peterson, Fitzgibbons would have requalified, but instead the Californian veteran took the final spot, sending the Australian back to the Challenger Series.
Fitzgibbons opened their heat by attacking a wave to earn a 6.83, and with Bryan uncharacteristically falling off a few waves, the 34-year-old NSW surfer looked in control.
She bettered her back-up score with a nervous 4.33, leaving Bryan requiring a 7.33 score to reach the quarter-finals.
But with 90 seconds remaining the Hawaiian launched on to a wave and showed off her power moves in a two-turn combination, wowing the judges to score a 9.00 to take out the heat.
An emotional Fitzgibbons stayed out in the water, devastated to have let the win - and the opportunities it secured - slip away.
"I think for the first, like, 98 per cent of that heat it was all going against me, I could not get it together," Bryan said.
"I'm like, I just need to do two big turns, and I hit the first one as hard as I could and then I was like, OK, just finish this thing, and it all worked out. So I was so stoked that wave came."
World No.3 Picklum and 31-year-old wildcard Macaulay met in the quarter-finals with the Margaret River surfer prevailing in an upset, 15.00 to 12.54.
Chasing the title her dad Dave won in 1989, Macaulay, who announced her retirement late last year to pursue a teaching career, will next face American Caitlin Simmers.
Former champions Nichols and Peterson then squared off, with the latter continuing her impressive form to advance 16.34 to 14.33.
Peterson - who will take on Bryan in the semis - also cemented a spot above the mid-season cut line.
In the men's quarter-finals local qualifier Jacob Willcox, who was the sole Australian remaining, was outclassed by a hungry Crosby Colapinto 15.66 to 11.10.
He will next meet South African veteran Jordy Smith, who took over the rankings lead with his win over Hawaiian Imaikalani deVault.
Older brother Griffin Colapinto posted a perfect 10 for a soaring, spinning aerial as he booked a semi-final berth against another Hawaiian Barron Mamiya, with the title to be decided Tuesday.
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