The Irukandjis Australian surf team saw a day of mixed results on Monday with Stephanie Gilmore and Julian Wilson suffering shock round three eliminations. Meanwhile, Sally Fitzgibbons and Owen Wright both put on commanding performances in the tricky three-to-four-foot surf to cement their positions in the quarterfinals.

Seven-time World Champion Gilmore’s dreams of winning a gold medal were cut short in the third round of competition when the Gold Coast based natural-footer came up against a blisteringly in-form Bianca Buitendag of South Africa.

An unfortunate priority error by Gilmore allowed Buitendag to find a small-to-mid size righthand wave that allowed for a chain of giant snaps and turns. The wave was rewarded with a decent 7.10 wave score and left Gilmore searching for an elusive 7.76 score that never eventuated.

"I looked at that wave and I was like, it doesn't look that good, so I let her have it and she turned it into a seven, so that was the most frustrating thing to me - like, man, I should have just taken that wave," Gilmore said after the heat.

"That's just the nature of surfing, sometimes the waves are there, sometimes the waves are not."

Fitzgibbons made light work of the wind plagued lineup over the course of her round three battle against French surfer Pauline Ado.

The Australian found an array of smaller righthand waves that ran along the sandbank and allowed for multiple manoeuvres and as a result was rewarded with a respectable 10.83 two-wave heat total.

Fitzgibbons will now face Japan's Amuro Tsuzuki in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Fresh off announcing his hiatus from the WSL World Championship Tour, Julian Wilson went into his round three heat with Brazil’s two-time World Champion Gabriel Medina. The ensuing heat saw an innovative battle of aerials between two of the sport’s finest with both surfers trading off a series of exciting manoeuvres until the dying seconds of the 30-minute affair.

Requiring a close to excellent score Wilson performed a critical air-reverse into a below sea-level section that was rewarded with a lower-than-expected 6.83 wave score that meant Medina would take the heat victory.

Owen Wright capped off the long day of surfing, coming up against fellow World Championship Tour surfer Jeremy Flores of France. Wright came charging out of the gates in the exchange, catching a flurry of righthanders in the opening minutes of the heat.

The judges seemed to like Wrights sharp backhand attack as he executed a barrage of giant backside snaps and carves that allowed him to claim the win with the highest heat total of the day, 15.00, ahead of his French rival who finished with 12.90.

On Monday evening there was an official statement to say that due to a review of the surf conditions forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, it has been decided to move the Finals to Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

Meaning the medals will be decided on Tuesday. The starting order will begin with the Men at 8am AEST and finish with the Women, followed by the victory ceremonies.

Ethan Smith