Ryan Callinan will face his first round-two elimination heat of the year at the Bali Pro after dropping from leader to last late in his opening clash at Keramas.
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The goofy-footer from Merewether was up against American natural-footers Kelly Slater and Kolohe Andino on the right-handed reef-break and led early after opening with a 5.67 and scoring 5.0 on his third ride.
Coming off a quarter-final domination of Slater, the 11-time world champion, in massive swell at Bells Beach, Callinan put together combinations of carves and vertical snaps on his backhand in clean one-metre waves.
The 10.67 total looked like getting him into round three before Slater earned a heat-high 6.83 inside the final five minutes to take the lead with 11.66. Andino then relegated Callinan to last and round two with back-to-back scores of 6.23 and 5.0 (11.23).
Callinan needed a 5.57 to regain second spot but earned a 4.07 from his final wave. He next takes on Sebastian Zietz and Jesse Mendes. Last in each of the four three-man heats exits.
It will be his first round-two heat this season after seconds to world champion Gabriel Medina to open the Gold Coast and Bells Beach events. He lost in round three to Jordy Smith on the Gold Coast and in the semi-final to Filipe Toledo at Bells.
Julian Wilson, who now calls Merewether home, won his heat all-Australian heat against Jack Freestone and Adrian Buchan.
Before the Bali event, Callinan said he felt "a bit more settled this year" on tour.
"My rookie year I felt like I was a bit frantic and overwhelmed," he said. "Big names and versing hard people - not that they've got any easier this year, but I just feel like I'm a bit more settled and calm and ready to perform with those guys and wanting to take on the challenge of beating the top guys."
Callinan was No.9 in the world heading to Keramas.
"The first event was a bit of a mishap for me but I feel like being in the top 10 in the first two events is really what I wanted," he said.
"I don't know whether I expected it to happen but now that I'm here, I'm really pleased and I feel like it only gets harder from here and I want to keep going and get higher and make top five by the next few events, but I'm excited to just go out and catch some waves and try and put on some good performances."