In the opening round, the two highest scoring surfers in each heat go through to the round of 16, while the third placed surfer enters the elimination round.

Heat three pitted Moana Jones Wong of Hawaii, the early leader in the season’s standings after her triumph in the first round at Pipeline, alongside compatriot Carissa Moore, who she defeated in the final of the previous round of the Championship Tour.

Jones Wong finished third with a score of 11.34, and entered the elimination round, with Moore advancing to the round of 16 with a score of 11.43.

The elimination round was the end of Wong’s competition, with her score of 10.74 at this stage not enough to progress.

In the second elimination round heat the surfer to go out of the competition was Australia’s Bronte Macaulay with a score of 2.17.

In the round of 16 athletes went head-to-head with all three former world champions still in the field eliminated at this stage.

The first to go was Talia Wright of Australia, whose score of 11.77 was not enough to defeat Malia Manuel of Hawaii, who totalled 14.33.

In heat four, Australia’s Stephanie Gillmore was eliminated, with her score of 12.44, not quite enough to beat Hawaii’s Gabriela Bryan who advanced to the quarter-finals with a score of 13.16.

There was another surprise in heat five when Moore was eliminated by Australia’s Molly Picklum, who scored 13.03.

In the quarter-finals, the first heat saw Manuel, who scored 11.67, beat Johanne Defay of France.

A second Hawaiian was guaranteed to progress from heat two, with Gabriela Bryan scoring 15.27 as she beat compatriot Luana Silva.

In heat three, Picklum’s impressive run was ended by Brisa Hennessy, with the surfer from Costa Rica scoring 14.77 as she reached the semi-finals.

A low-scoring fourth heat saw Hawaii’s Bettylou Sakura Johnson complete the semi-final line-up with her score of 9.16 another to defeat Australia’s India Robinson.

There was no action today in the men’s competition which has already reached the quarter-final stage.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow subject to weather conditions, which according to official forecasts are described as "unfavourable" due to a likely sideshore wind.