Morgan Cibilic, Jackson Baker stay in the mix at Sydney Surf Pro

Cibilic won his round of 64 heat thanks to a late 9.0 ride, while Baker survived his round of 32 contest to close out action on day three at the Challenger Series event.

Baker (11.84) finished second to Maxime Huscenot (14.2), holding off Luke Thompson (10.67) and Ketut Agus (7.5) for a last 16 spot.

After leading with scores of 4.17 and 7.67 from three-turn combinations, Baker was left defending second place when Huscenot earned a 8.7 (14.2 total) for a brilliant barrel ride with nine minutes remaining.

Thompson and Agus needed only 5.85 and 4.85 respectively as Baker was unable to better his total. Thompson had the last shot, standing up just before the siren and landing an air, only to get a 4.07.

Earlier, Cibilic was in a similar position before scoring a dominant win with a 15.5 total ahead of Joan Duru (12.87), Oney Anwar (6.6) and Brodi Sale (11.73)

Cibilic started with 6.5 from a barrel ride he narrowly escaped but he struggled to find a back-up score, with a best of 1.07 from his next four waves. He led into the final 10 minutes but his rivals all needed only mid-range scores to catch him.

As the waves picked up, Duru was first to strike, going to first with an 11.1 total. Cibilic earned 3.83 with six minutes left from one big hit but he remained in second spot.

With scores from Sale and Anwar yet to drop, Cibilic took control with three minutes left, finding the exit on a deep barrel before landing an air-drop finish to earn his 9.0.

"I felt really lost out there," Cibilic said.

"Right now it kind of looks like there's a rip going through it and it really felt like there was a current going through it my whole heat.

"But there's some diamonds in the rough, that's for sure. But it's a bit shifty so it's hard to find them."

As for his 9.0, he said: "I was stressing because I hadn't made a turn. I thought, it's just going to barrel, get really throaty and it gave me a little shampoo, so I was a bit spewing. Then it gave me one nice section, and I felt pretty out of control through that turn. I was just so stoked to make the turn."

Newcastle's Sarah Baum was unable to find a late gem in her round of 32 women's heat, exiting with a third place.

Baum needed a 2.75, which extended to a 3.21 then 4.98, in the final minutes to jump into second spot but she searched in vain.

Carolina Mendes (13.8) won the heat from Macy Callaghan (10.67), Baum (7.7) and Ariane Ochoa (6.07).

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