Merewether's Ryan Callinan has made a strong start to the Championship Tour with a ninth place at the Pipeline Pro in Hawaii on Wednesday (AEDT).
It is the 30-year-old's best result on the tour since a fifth at Margaret River in May 2021.
Callinan missed the opening event last year with a broken wrist and was 17th in all other five top-tier contests.
He had to requalify for the 2023 tour through the Challenger Series after missing the mid-season cut and is keen to avoid a similar scenario this year.
The Novocastrian made a winning return last week in Hawaii to advance to the round of 32.
Callinan first beat Brazilian Samuel Popo on Wednesday before then being eliminated by Caio Ibelli, also from Brazil, in the round of 16.
The Australian had control for the most part of his round-of-32 heat but iced the win with a high-scoring, last-minute tube ride to finish with a two-wave score of 13.16 points to Popo's 8.76.
"The last wave was beautiful but it was kind of a grindy heat," Callinan said after the win.
"I was lucky enough to get a few under priority in the non-priority heat and I kind of expected just to try to build off those, but they ended up being my scores for the most of the heat.
"I knew he got a good wave at the end and I just had to go on the last wave of the heat and it ended up being a bomb, so I was stoked.
"Hopefully [this year is] better than the last few years, but I'm enjoying just being back here and competing and getting to surf Pipe with a few guys out."
His luck ran out against Ibelli, who progressed to the quarter-finals with a two-wave score of 10.57 to Callinan's 9.47.
The Merewether goofy-footer will turn his focus quickly to the second event of the year, the Sunset Beach Pro also in Hawaii and set to be held in the February 12-23 window.
Fellow Merewether surfer Jackson Baker finished in 17th position after losing his round-of-32 heat to compatriot Callum Robson on Wednesday.
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