	{"id":184266,"date":"2026-04-09T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=184266"},"modified":"2026-04-08T15:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:06:25","slug":"pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro gathers momentum ahead of big Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE stage is set for a thrilling finish to the 2026 Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach.<\/p>\n<p>Favourable conditions are expected today and tomorrow, setting the scene for an epic finale to the world&#8217;s longest running surfing event.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/StephanieGilmore_26B_93671.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore runs down the hallowed stairs at Bells Beach. Photo: Ed Sloane\/World Surf League<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Competition officially got underway last week on Good Friday, with round 1 of the men&#8217;s field taking to the water.<\/p>\n<p>Local wildcard Xavier Huxtable was the highlight, defeating Callum Robson in a see-sawing affair right on sunset.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/EllieHarrison_26Bell_93616.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ellie Harrison puts her board up and over the lip of the wave. Photo: Cait Miers\/World Surf League<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Easter Saturday brought with it some fun waves of its own, with round 1 of the women&#8217;s competition hitting the lineup.<\/p>\n<p>Barwon Heads surfer Ellie Harrison unfortunately bowed out to Lakey Peterson, while Brazilian Luana Silva upset eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/JordySmith-LukeThomp_93682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordy Smith and Luke Thompson had a great battle in Round Two. Photo: Cait Miers\/World Surf League<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Past Bells champion Ethan Ewing was defeated by rising star George Pittar, while 2017 event winner Jordy Smith flexed his muscles against fellow South African Luke Thompson.<\/p>\n<p>The surfing continued on Easter Sunday, with several heats of round 2 run before a lay day was called.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Lineup_26BellsCT_0Y6_93703.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The lineup prior to Day 3 at Bells Beach. Photo: Cait Miers\/World Surf League.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Poor conditions resulted in Monday and Tuesday being off, before the competition made a start again on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Xavier Huxtable surfed in heat 13 of the round against 2019 world champion Italo Ferreira, but was unable to match the Brazilian&#8217;s firepower.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DaneHenry_26BellsCT__93725.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach wildcard Dane Henry shooting into the sky. Photo: Ed Sloane\/World Surf League.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old Jan Juc resident posted a 6-point ride early in the heat, while Ferreira notched a 7-point ride.<\/p>\n<p>With only seconds on the clock, Huxtable took off on a wave, shot to the air and completed two big turns on the inside. The crowd erupted as he celebrated.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/OpeningCeremony_26Be_12593.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wadawarrung musicians during the Opening Ceremony prior to the commencement of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Photo: Cait Miers\/World Surf League.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But his score of a 6.73 came in at just 0.1 below the requirement, handing Ferreira the win.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing on Wednesday, round 2 of the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s field was still underway at Winkipop.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/AnatLelior_26BellsCT_12683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A traditional smoking ceremony took place to welcome surfers to Bells Beach last week. Photo: Ed Sloane\/World Surf League.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The remainder of the bracket draw would follow over those coming days.<\/p>\n<p>For all event information, head to<a href=\"http:\/\/worldsurfleague.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong> worldsurfleague.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE stage is set for a thrilling finish to the 2026 Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. Favourable conditions are expected today and tomorrow, setting the scene for an epic finale to the world&#8217;s longest running surfing event. &nbsp; Competition officially got underway last week on Good Friday, with round 1 of the men&#8217;s field [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":184276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-184266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pro gathers momentum ahead of big Saturday - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get ready for an epic 2026 Rip Curl Pro finale at Bells Beach. 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Catch the latest heat results and highlights before the big Saturday finish.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-08T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/8-apr-tng-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Rivalland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Rivalland\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathan Rivalland\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf7cb8dfe63a187785b4e65994914833\"},\"headline\":\"Pro gathers momentum ahead of big Saturday\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-08T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":501,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/8-apr-tng-5.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pro gathers momentum ahead of big Saturday - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/pro-gathers-momentum-ahead-of-big-saturday\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/8-apr-tng-5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-08T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Get ready for an epic 2026 Rip Curl Pro finale at Bells Beach. 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