Jackson Baker got busy early to win his way out of the elimination round after Merewether clubmate Ryan Callinan moved directly to the round of 32 with a strong opening performance at Sunset Beach in Hawaii on Thursday (AEDT).
Baker surfed only two waves when last in his first-round heat on Tuesday as the second event of the Championship Tour got underway.
Competition resumed after a lay-day and Baker faced a three-man elimination battle against recent Pipeline champion Jack Robinson and Hawaiian wildcard Kai Lenny.
Baker started with a 4.67 and backed it up quickly with a 3.73 to lead at the halfway point in bumpy conditions.
Robinson put up scores of 2.83 and 5.67 to takeover from Baker, 8.5 to 8.4, with Lenny at 6.63. With eight minutes to go, Baker got in four turns on a nice wave to get a 5.1 and retake the lead, 9.77 to 8.5.
Lenny improved his total to 8.0 with a 4.5, leaving he and Robinson chasing fours to catch Baker in the last five minutes. Neither were able to find the right wave and Baker won through to face Kanoa Igarashi in the last 32.
"I guess the other day I didn't have the greatest heat," Baker said.
"I got one on the buzzer but I probably let a few go and probably expected more than what I actually needed to do, so I had a couple of drills the last few days just to actually get some waves and get the board under my feet and get confident.
"In that heat I think the first minute I got a 4.67, so I was like, all right, we're moving in the right direction."
Baker, who lost in the round of 32 at Pipe, won seven of his 10 first-round heats last year to largely avoid the elimination round.
"I think that's my first ever three-man elim round, so I'm not doing too bad going into my second year on tour," he said. "But I guess dealing with an early loss at Pipe, and we still have the mid-year cut and everything like that, but I'm just trying to block that out.
"I think after that loss at Pipe, especially with the conditions that we've got, I think it is tricky, so I just want to enjoy my surfing and just enjoy this year."
Callinan (9.87) earlier surfed in the final first-round heat, where he was locked in a late battle with Sydneysider Connor O'Leary (9.33) for second place behind Gabriel Medina (11.67).
The goofy-footer had scores of 4.0, 4.17 and 4.6 from backhand attacks but he was last briefly with seven minutes to go before a 5.27 from one big turn put him ahead of O'Leary again. It left O'Leary chasing a 4.44 in the last five minutes and he couldn't find another wave.
Callinan faces Caio Ibelli in the last 32.
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