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West Australian
20-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Margaret River's Jacob Willcox survives elimination round test to set up contest with world No.1
Local qualifier Jacob Willcox has fought through tricky conditions and a bout of illness to advance out of the Margaret River Pro elimination round and into a match-up against world No.1 Italo Ferreira. Willcox, who grew up surfing Main Break, had to draw on all of his experience to navigate lumpy 8-10ft conditions on Tuesday, posting a two-wave score of 11.03 to edge out Barron Mamiya of Hawaii (9.24) and fellow Australian Ryan Callinan (8.20) in the first heat of the day. The 27-year-old was a World Surf League championship tour rookie in 2024 but failed to re-qualify for this season after missing the mid-season cut. He took out the local trials last week to win a place in this year's Pro. 'That was just like a washing machine out there,' Willcox said after his heat win. 'I feel like I've watched a lot of heats out here, especially when it was a QS (qualifying series event) back in the day, and it was always big and rouge just like this. I was stoked just to get a few waves because I've been sick as a dog the past few days and that was my first surf since my last heat. It was good just to get back in the water.' The round-of-32 match-up with former world champion Ferreira comes after the Brazilian powerhouse dominated a three-cornered opening round heat on Saturday that also included Australian CT rookie George Pittar. Willcox, who was only able to put up two scores of 2.50 for a 5.00 total in that heat to Ferreira's 14.10 and Pittar's 10.33, said he had made adjustments that would hopefully help him take it up to the men's ranking leader. 'I had such a shocker that first day, I rode the wrong board and couldn't even get off the bottom so it felt good just to get out there on the right board and do a turn,' he said. 'It's going to be fun, I feel like the heat the other day (with Ferreira) I couldn't really even compete but this is fun conditions. He is one of my favourite surfers so it's going to be good to have a battle against him. 'I think it's about trying to find the best waves, whoever gets the best waves today will probably get through, it's just hard to find them.' Callinan's exit sees him anchored in 33rd place in the rankings and resigned to missing this year's cut. The goofy-footer had to withdraw from the event in Portugal due to injury and skipped the recent Gold Coast Pro for the birth of his first child, meaning he missed out on two point-scoring opportunities. In other results, Aussie wild-cards Winter Vincent and Mikey McDonagh advanced out of the elimination round along with Mamiya, Imaikalani deVault and Ian Gentil of Hawaii and Crosby Colapinto and Edgard Groggia of Brazil. Dievid Silva of Brazil, who was eliminated alongside Callinan will also miss the cut, while Seth Moniz of Hawaii and Alejo Muniz of Brazil are currently inside the cut-line but face a nervous wait. Watch the WSL Margaret River Pro live and free on 7PLUS HEAT 1: Jacob Willcox AUS 11.03 (5.70, 5.33), Barron Mamiya HAW 9.24 (5.17, 4.07), Ryan Callinan AUS 8.20 (4.43, 3.77) HEAT 2: Imaikalani deVault HAW 12.50 (6.33, 6.17), Winter Vincent AUS 11.64 (6.27, 5.37), Seth Moniz HAW 7.76 (4.43, 3.33) HEAT 3: Ian Gentil HAW 14.33 (7.50, 6.83), Mikey McDonagh AUS 10.90 (5.57, 5.33), Alejo Muniz BRA 8.37 (4.37, 4.00) HEAT 4: Crosby Colapinto USA 10.00 (5.50, 4.50), Edgard Groggia BRA 9.50 (6.17, 3.33), Deivid Silva BRA 8.93 (4.93, 4.00)
Perth Now
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Willcox survives elimination to set up world No.1 test
Local qualifier Jacob Willcox has fought through tricky conditions and a bout of illness to advance out of the Margaret River Pro elimination round and into a match-up against world No.1 Italo Ferreira. Willcox, who grew up surfing Main Break, had to draw on all of his experience to navigate lumpy 8-10ft conditions on Tuesday, posting a two-wave score of 11.03 to edge out Barron Mamiya of Hawaii (9.24) and fellow Australian Ryan Callinan (8.20) in the first heat of the day. The 27-year-old was a World Surf League championship tour rookie in 2024 but failed to re-qualify for this season after missing the mid-season cut. He took out the local trials last week to win a place in this year's Pro. 'That was just like a washing machine out there,' Willcox said after his heat win. 'I feel like I've watched a lot of heats out here, especially when it was a QS (qualifying series event) back in the day, and it was always big and rouge just like this. I was stoked just to get a few waves because I've been sick as a dog the past few days and that was my first surf since my last heat. It was good just to get back in the water.' The round-of-32 match-up with former world champion Ferreira comes after the Brazilian powerhouse dominated a three-cornered opening round heat on Saturday that also included Australian CT rookie George Pittar. Willcox, who was only able to put up two scores of 2.50 for a 5.00 total in that heat to Ferreira's 14.10 and Pittar's 10.33, said he had made adjustments that would hopefully help him take it up to the men's ranking leader. 'I had such a shocker that first day, I rode the wrong board and couldn't even get off the bottom so it felt good just to get out there on the right board and do a turn,' he said. 'It's going to be fun, I feel like the heat the other day (with Ferreira) I couldn't really even compete but this is fun conditions. He is one of my favourite surfers so it's going to be good to have a battle against him. 'I think it's about trying to find the best waves, whoever gets the best waves today will probably get through, it's just hard to find them.' Callinan's exit sees him anchored in 33rd place in the rankings and resigned to missing this year's cut. The goofy-footer had to withdraw from the event in Portugal due to injury and skipped the recent Gold Coast Pro for the birth of his first child, meaning he missed out on two point-scoring opportunities. In other results, Aussie wild-cards Winter Vincent and Mikey McDonagh advanced out of the elimination round along with Mamiya, Imaikalani deVault and Ian Gentil of Hawaii and Crosby Colapinto and Edgard Groggia of Brazil. Dievid Silva of Brazil, who was eliminated alongside Callinan will also miss the cut, while Seth Moniz of Hawaii and Alejo Muniz of Brazil are currently inside the cut-line but face a nervous wait. Watch the WSL Margaret River Pro live and free on 7PLUS HEAT 1: Jacob Willcox AUS 11.03 (5.70, 5.33), Barron Mamiya HAW 9.24 (5.17, 4.07), Ryan Callinan AUS 8.20 (4.43, 3.77)HEAT 2: Imaikalani deVault HAW 12.50 (6.33, 6.17), Winter Vincent AUS 11.64 (6.27, 5.37), Seth Moniz HAW 7.76 (4.43, 3.33)HEAT 3: Ian Gentil HAW 14.33 (7.50, 6.83), Mikey McDonagh AUS 10.90 (5.57, 5.33), Alejo Muniz BRA 8.37 (4.37, 4.00)HEAT 4: Crosby Colapinto USA 10.00 (5.50, 4.50), Edgard Groggia BRA 9.50 (6.17, 3.33), Deivid Silva BRA 8.93 (4.93, 4.00)
The Age
18-05-2025
- Climate
- The Age
Margaret River Pro on hold for two days with veteran's season on the line
Sally Fitzgibbons faces an anxious wait in her quest to survive the World Surf League's mid-season cut after the Margaret River Pro was placed on hold for two days. While the waves at the famous Western Australia break were pumping on Saturday, particularly early in the day during the men's opening heats, a drop in swell forced organisers to call competition off until Tuesday. 'After we had a good look at the conditions this morning, we decided to call the event off for the day,' WSL deputy commissioner Renato Hickel said in a statement on Sunday. 'There is not much energy on the swell, really weak waves, two-to-three-foot max. 'With the swell on offer for the remainder of the waiting period, we decided to wait for the next swell, which looks like it's going to be this coming Tuesday. Championship Tour veteran Fitzgibbons is in a must-win situation to make the top 10 and save herself from a third successive mid-season cut. Fitzgibbons looked set to finish second in her opening heat but fellow Australian Isabella Nichols caught a wave with five seconds left in the heat to bump her to third. She faces a tough battle in the elimination round, having drawn Bettylou Sakura Johnson, with the Hawaiian winning their final at the Gold Coast Pro last weekend. Trials winner, local surfer Willow Hardy, is also in the heat.
Sydney Morning Herald
18-05-2025
- Climate
- Sydney Morning Herald
Margaret River Pro on hold for two days with veteran's season on the line
Sally Fitzgibbons faces an anxious wait in her quest to survive the World Surf League's mid-season cut after the Margaret River Pro was placed on hold for two days. While the waves at the famous Western Australia break were pumping on Saturday, particularly early in the day during the men's opening heats, a drop in swell forced organisers to call competition off until Tuesday. 'After we had a good look at the conditions this morning, we decided to call the event off for the day,' WSL deputy commissioner Renato Hickel said in a statement on Sunday. 'There is not much energy on the swell, really weak waves, two-to-three-foot max. 'With the swell on offer for the remainder of the waiting period, we decided to wait for the next swell, which looks like it's going to be this coming Tuesday. Championship Tour veteran Fitzgibbons is in a must-win situation to make the top 10 and save herself from a third successive mid-season cut. Fitzgibbons looked set to finish second in her opening heat but fellow Australian Isabella Nichols caught a wave with five seconds left in the heat to bump her to third. She faces a tough battle in the elimination round, having drawn Bettylou Sakura Johnson, with the Hawaiian winning their final at the Gold Coast Pro last weekend. Trials winner, local surfer Willow Hardy, is also in the heat.
West Australian
18-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Margaret River Pro put on hold as World Surf League organisers await bigger swell on Tuesday
Competition has been put on hold at the Margaret River Pro for two days as organisers await the arrival of big swell and more favourable winds mid-week. The championship tour event started Saturday when the 10-day window for competition opened with both men's and women's opening rounds completed in 4-6ft conditions at Main Break. But with smaller conditions on offer Sunday, and the prospect of 6-8ft swell on Tuesday and Wednesday, World Surf League officials opted to wait to resume. The next call will be made at 7am on Tuesday. 'After we had a good look at the conditions, we decided to call the event off for the day,' WSL deputy commissioner Renato Hickel said. 'The swell is declining and the Cape Naturaliste buoy had declined since 4.30 am this morning, and there is not much energy on the swell, really weak waves, 2-3ft max. 'With the swell on offer for the remainder of the waiting period, we decided to wait for the next swell, which looks like it's going to be this coming Tuesday. 'Potentially a really big powerful swell with the chance for running heats at The Box, so fingers crossed.' The prospect of heats running at The Box, a slab wave a few hundred metres north of Main Break that offers deep barrels with the right conditions, will please local favourite Jack Robinson, who called for organisers to take advantage of the iconic break ahead of this year's event. 'I think it's calling for it, and I think it's about time we ran there,' Robinson said on Friday. 'Everyone wants to see it and I think it would be great to watch.' When competition does resume, veteran Aussie Sally Fitzgibbons will face a must-win elimination round heat to keep her hopes of avoiding the mid-season cut alive. The 12-time winner on tour and three-time world title runner-up needs a deep run in Margaret River to have any hope of staying on tour but was relegated to the elimination round after a heartbreaking loss in the dying seconds of her opening round heat on Saturday. She will face recent Gold Coast Pro winner Bettylou Sakura Johnson and teenage local qualifier Willow Hardy in the elimination round. On the men's side, qualifier Jacob Willcox will be hoping for a better heat in his home conditions after struggling to find the right waves in his opening round loss. The crowd favourite will face fellow Aussie Ryan Callinan and Barron Mamiya of Hawaii for the chance to advance to the round-of-32. Watch the WSL Margaret River Pro live and free on 7PLUS WOMEN'S ELIMINATION ROUND Heat 1: Bettylou Sakura Johnson HAW v Sally Fitzgibbons AUS v Willow Hardy AUS Heat 2: Erin Brooks CAN v Lakey Peterson USA v Nadia Erostarbe BAK MEN'S ELIMINATION ROUND Heat 1: Ryan Callinan AUS v Barron Mamiya HAW v Jacob Willcox AUS Heat 2: Seth Moniz HAW v Imaikalani deVault HAW v Winter Vincent AUS Heat 3: Alejo Muniz BRA v IAN Gentil HAW v Mikey McDonagh AUS Heat 4: Deivid Silva BRA v Crosby Colapinto USA v Edgard Groggia BRA
