And then there were 8.

After an exciting day 5 of massive shacks at Surfer's Beach in Ballito, the 4 quarterfinal heats have been set.

The already pulsing swell that had competitors scrambling for a bigger board yesterday, was still stacking lines to the horizon this morning, and with more favorable winds today, there were some serious bombs out there.

The 3-man non-elimination heats of round 4 were sent out in the early morning light as Ballito did it's best Backdoor Pipeline impression. Defending event champion Jordy Smith continued his march through this year's draw with another emphatic win in heat 2. Jordy stroked into on of the biggest caverns of the day and drove through a winding barrel, emerging just as the lip detonated around him for a 9.8, the highest score of the day. He would win the heat and advance straight into the quarterfinals.

John John Florence had the heat of the day, however, and considering the type of waves in question and the young Hawaiian's mastery of Backdoor, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. The skinny blonde kid absolutely charged today, securing an 18.43 heat total. His best wave was a 9.5 for a late air-drop straight into a big slab and emerged clean a couple hundred feet down the point.

After the 4 round 4 heats, the 'loser's' round 5 begun in the still firing conditions.

Pat Gudauskas barely squeeked past Australia's Kieren Perrow with a 9.4 near the end of their heat for a screaming barrel ride and a spot in the quarters.

Julian Wilson took his opportunity for redemption after a close defeat in round 4. Wilson secured the highest heat total of the round, 15.53 to easily eliminate Brazilian Jano Belo.

Competition should finish tonight starting at 10:30pm on the West Coast, watch it live here.

Non-Elimination Round of 12:
Heat 1: Junior Faria (BRA) 12.83; Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 11.44; Jesse Mendes(BRA) 5.20pts
Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.97; Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 5.03; Kieren Perrow(AUS) 4.40pts
Heat 3: Heath Joske (AUS) 15.40; Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.24; Blake Thornton(AUS) 10.20
Heat 4: John John Florence (HAW) 18.43; Kai Otton( AUS) 15.23; Jano Belo(BRA) 2.00

Elimination Round of 12
Heat 1: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.90 def Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.44
Heat 2: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 13.50 def Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 12.26
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.53 def Jano Belo (BRA) 9.00
Heat 4: Blake Thornton (AUS) 8.37 def Kai Otton (AUS) 7.84

Upcoming Heats

Quarterfinals
QF 1: Junior Faria (BRA) vs Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
QF 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs Jesse Mendes (BRA)
QF 3: Heath Joske (AUS) vs Julian Wilson (AUS)
QF 4: John John Florence (HAW) vs Blake Thornton (AUS)