GrindTV News, Saturday June 13, - Conditions permitting, Australians Owen Wright and Daniel Ross will face off in the quarterfinals of the Sri Lankan Airlines Pro today in the Maldives. Like all 6-Star Prime events, the massive points on tap in the Maldives will have a dramatic effect on the overall rankings. Wright and Ross entered this event ranked 3rd and 2nd respectively, and with current tour leader Adam Melling long gone, both are looking to climb. The only other surfer in the entire top 20 of the WQS rankings to make it into the quarterfinals is Brazilian Jadson Andre. The dynamic goofyfooter entered ranked in the number 5 slot.


While Wright and Ross will be facing each other in the next round, Andre will be taking on France's latest star, Romain Cloitre, who is undoubtedly the biggest surprise. Cloitre entered this event ranked 58th, but he's been impressing everyone all week. Meanwhile, the Americans still have some hope resting in Pat Gudauskas and Austin Ware. Gudauskas got on the judges good side just two days ago, pulling the first-ever rodeo flip in competition during his Round of 48 heat. Both he and Ware will be climbing out of the ratings cellar after ho-hum starts to the season, but neither surfer, regardless of how well they do here, is likely to rest afterward. They both know there's a lot of season left on the schedule.


After defeating Cory Lopez to get into the Quarterfinals, Gudauskas now faces Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas. Should he win he'll face the winner of Jadson Andre and Romain Cloitre for a shot at the Finals. Ware's road, meanwhile, looks a little tougher, at least on paper. If he can get past Australia's Leigh Sedley in the quarters, he'll face the winner of the Wright vs. Ross clash for a shot at the final.

While the ASP's world tour stars are enjoying a healthy break in the schedule, the WQS side of things, A.K.A. The Grind, is heating up in the Maldives for the the 6 Star Prime SriLankan Pro, one of the most important stops of the season. Of course, being that this party is a world away, and it's not backed by a powerhouse industry player, it gets very little media spotlight, but that doesn't change the fact tha some heavy heats with serious consequences are going down. Usually, this is the type of event where new faces emerge, and true to form, that's exactly what's happened as the field was narrowed down to the final 16 surfers yesterday. The remaining list of competitors reads is best summed up by one question, "Who the Heck is That?"


Romain Cloitre? Miguel Pupo? Jonathan Gonzalez? Anyone?


Sadly, Australia's Owen Wright and Daniel Ross along with Brazilian Andre Jadson are the only three surfers left standing who are currently in the Top 20. In fact, all three of those guys are currently in the Top 5, which means they're strengthening their death grip on the top spots. Meanwhile, the Amercans have had a relitively rough go. Hungtington Beach's Brett Simpson had another early round exit, falling in the Round of 48. Some other notables who lost in the same round included Eric Geiselman, Tanner Gudauskas, Matty Wilkinson, Kai Barger and even Sunny Garcia.


Yet all is not lost for the Americans. San Clemente's Patrick Gudauskas will be facing off against veteran Cory Lopez in the next round, which means the yanks will have at least one surfer in the Quarterfinals. The other hopefull is Californian Austin Ware, who squares off next against Australia's Drew Courtney.


Stay tuned...

For the second time in a row Kelly Slater has lost to a young, Aussie wildcard. First, it was Julian Wilson at Snapper, and now today it's Owen Wright at Bells. Maybe, it's youth, maybe wildcards just mess with his head (he lost to a wildcard last year in Tahiti), or maybe it's because Al Merrick is a better shaper than him (Kelly's been shaping his own boards of late).

Whatever it is, Slates has to get to the bottom of it if he wants 10 titles, he's fresh out of throw-a-way contests for the season. Next stop is Tahiti, a place he shines, so he can turn things around.

Back to the winner of the heat. Owen Wright has been surfing great all contest, in his first heat he took out Dane Reynolds, and in his second Kelly Slater. Wright's been a Rip Curl assassin with his sight set on Quiksilver all event. Next up for the kid, Jordy Smith, now that would be something to talk about, to be able to say you took out Kelly Slater, Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith, all in the same contest.

The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach kicked off yesterday in mushy mediocre conditions. Bells really doesn't turn on unless there's some swell, and even then it's still a pretty mushy wave, it's one of the worst venues on tour for modern surfing, but it was the first contest on tour, so because of tradition we're stuck with it.

Dane Reynolds was the first big name casualty of the sloppy waves. He was taken out by 19-year-old wildcard, Owen Wright (pictured above), who did it on his back hand to boot. Dane's counterpart, Jordy Smith, had a great opening heat and put up the highest total of the day.

Others who shined include tour rookies, Kekoa Balcaso and Michele Bourez, and event wildcard, Jay "Bottle" Thompson. Click here for more.