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Seven-times world champion Gilmore will face five-times champion Carissa Moore in a blockbuster quarter-final, while Australia’s Isabella Nichols (11th) is still to surf her third-round heat.<\/p>\n
Robinson (eighth) and Wright are the only two Australian women currently in the top 10, but a host of upsets on the Victorian Surf Coast are leaving the door open for movement before competition heads west.<\/p>\n
After a long absence from the tour due to illness, two-time world champion Wright has no plans to slide out of the equation.<\/p>\n
“It’s the only event I want to win; this event is special,” she said after her impressive heat win.<\/p>\n
“That was really fun and really special; it’s been four years since I surfed out here and a long time since I’ve felt like I’ve surfed like myself.<\/p>\n
“I’m starting to get glimpses of that, so it’s quite emotional for me.<\/p>\n
“I look down at my body and it feels like my body is powerful, strong and connected.”<\/p>\n
By\u00a0Murray Wenzel<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sally Fitzgibbons left it until the final moments of her third-round heat at Bells Beach to snag a win that has kept the Australian star’s hopes of avoiding the WSL’s mid-season cut alive. Sitting 17th after three events, the veteran surfer faces the prospect of an early off-season if she’s unable to enter the top […]<\/p>\n