Tour leader Kelly Slater was sensationally eliminated from the world surfing event in Indonesia today after a shock third-round loss to Portuguese rookie Tiago Pires.
The surprise result injects some life into this year's world title race, which Slater has dominated so far by winning four of the opening five events.
Pires, ranked 39 on the tour, came from behind to knock out the eight-time world champion in two-metres waves, scoring a superb 8.40 wave in the dying seconds to secure the win.
"There were two waves at the end of that heat and he went on the first one and I took the second and it turned out to be a really good wave," Pires said.
"When I came out of the barrel and into the channel, everyone was screaming.
"This is the biggest win of my career ... to beat Slater here in these conditions is amazing."
Slater was gracious in defeat.
"Before the contest started, I said my luck would have to run out somewhere and I guess it was here," Slater said.
Australian reigning world champion Mick Fanning booked his spot in the fourth round after comfortably cruising past Brazilian Rodrigo Dornelles 16.34 to 3.90.
Fanning, currently sitting No.4 on the ratings, is now in a position to capitalise on Slater's elimination and get his title defence back on track.
"I think what it's done is really fired everyone up, especially the top seeds since it offers us a chance to gain some ground on Kelly," Fanning said.
Australian Joel Parkinson, the current No.2, put in the strongest performance of the day by eliminating South African Royden Bryson with a day-high heat score of 18.4 out of 20.
Other Australians to progress to the fourth round were Bede Durbidge, Kai Otton, Kieren Perrow, Dayyan Neve, Ben Dunn, Taj Burrow and Dean Morrison.
