The Rip Curl Bells beach Pro hadn’t even started yet, and there was all kinds of drama unfolding on Tuesday as the worlds elite surfers went out for a practice paddle.

Courtney Conlogue ended up in hospital with an ankle injury, Parko had a long swim in when he snapped his board spectacularly. Nikki van Dijk copped good ol’ shiner (that’s a black eye) and poor young Pauline Ado had to sit through 11 stitches.

After all the surfers were finished hurting themselves, competition looked tame in comparison before a change in the weather forces the women to get out of the water, and endure a lengthy wait until the day before semi’s for another chance!

But back to the carnage…

Don’t worry, Parko didn’t break the board he refers to as his ‘Magic Carpet’, it was a spare used for training. The media loved the pics of the nose of his board flying away, while he looks on, about to go over the falls.

Conlogue had to be taken for an MRI on her ankle, causing her to forfeit round four against her Hawaiian rival Malia Manuel. The nastiest, and probably the luckiest incident of the day was Nikki Van Diik copping a board to the face. She pulled off a wave but her board stayed submerged, it flicked back and got her right in the cheek bone. Finally, at a nearby beach (Winkipop ) down the road, Ado needed 11 stitches in her leg after a locals board took her out while she was freesurfing.

Before the onshore winds arrived and chopped conditions up, Sally Fitzgibbons, Tyler Wright and Steph Gilmour advanced to the semi finals, joined by Carissa Moore from Hawaii.

Fitzgibbons only just scraped through her heat after letting a wave pass, much to the dismay of onlookers on the beach. She thought a better one would come, and it did, winning her the heat.

Keep an eye on Bells Beach Pro, on this week down in Victoria, though the ASP Facebook.

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