First Two Days of Competition Called OFF at Margaret River Pro - Lay Day Called for Today (April 11) and Tomorrow (April 12) - Promising forecast for Friday onwards - More Available at WorldSurfLeague.com

Caption: 2017 Margaret River Pro runner-up Kolohe Andino (USA) will face CT sophomores Frederico Morais (PRT) and Ezekiel Lau (HAW) in Round 1 Heat 11 when competition gets underway. Caption: ? WSL /Sloane

MARGARET RIVER, Western Australia/AUS (Wednesday, April 11, 2018) - The opening day of the Margaret River Pro , Stop No. 3on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT),has been called OFF due to onshore winds and unsubstantial swell. The surfing competition will also be OFF tomorrow, Thursday, April 12. "We are excited to be back in Western Australia for the Margaret River Pro," said WSL Commissioner, Kieren Perrow. "We have a bit of a messy swell and unfavorable winds, so we've decided to hold off on starting the competition today and tomorrow. We have a large swell approaching Friday into Saturday, and then no shortage of residual swell in the following days. Knowing this, we can hold and make another call once that swell has arrived. For now, we will wait for the waves and update the call on Friday morning." Event organizers will reassess the conditions and make the next call on the morning of Friday, April 13 topotentially start the opening rounds of competition. When the Margaret River Pro kicks off, John John Florence (HAW) will match-up with 2018 CT Rookie Wade Carmichael (AUS) and event wildcard Mikey Wright (AUS) . This Round 1 heat will be a rematch for Florence and Wright, who notoriously did battle on the Gold Coast earlier this season with Wright gaining the upper hand. Six-time WSL Champion and current Jeep Leader, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) , will take on an in-form Keely Andrew (AUS) , and Drug Aware WA Trials winner and local favorite, Mikaela Greene (AUS) , in Heat 3 of Round 1. Another local hero to hit the water in Heat 2 of Round 1 is Bronte Macaulay (AUS) , who will have the tough task of defeating Californian Sage Erickson (USA) and three-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore (HAW) . Current World No. 1 Italo Ferreira (BRA) will don the yellow Jeep Leader Jersey for the first time when he takes on former Margaret River Pro winner Sebastian Zietz (HAW) and Michael Rodrigues (BRA) in Heat 10 of the opening round. Equal Jeep Leader Julian Wilson (AUS) hopes for redemption after a poor result at Bells as he gets his Margaret River Pro campaign underway against rookie Jesse Mendes (BRA) and Trials winner Dave Delroy-Carr (AUS) . Surfline, WSL forecast partner, is calling for: Decreasing SW swell and onshore wind is likely for the first couple days of the event window, Wed-Thu. A solid SW swell is likely for Fri-Sat; wind is looking dicier for Friday now, with improving wind for the first half of Saturday. Fading surf and favorable wind looks increasingly likely for Sun-Mon. Mid size SW swell and favorable wind looks possible Tue-Wed, with larger WSW swell possible the end of next week. Margaret River Men's Pro Round 1 Matchups: Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Connor O'Leary (AUS), Keanu Asing (HAW) Heat 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Tomas Hermes (BRA), Ian Gouveia (BRA) Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS), Caio Ibelli (BRA), Miguel Pupo (BRA) Heat 4: John John Florence (HAW), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Mikey Wright (AUS) Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Joan Duru (FRA), Kael Walsh (AUS) Heat 6: Julian Wilson (AUS), Jesse Mendes (BRA), Dave Delroy-Carr (AUS) Heat 7: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Conner Coffin (USA), Michael February (ZAF) Heat 8: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), Yago Dora (BRA) Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Griffin Colapinto (USA), Willian Cardoso (BRA) Heat 10: Italo Ferreira (BRA),Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Michael Rodrigues (BRA) Heat 11: Kolohe Andino (USA), Frederico Morais (PRT), Ezekiel Lau (HAW) Heat 12: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Michel Bourez (PYF),Patrick Gudauskas (USA) Margaret River Women's Pro Round 1 Matchups: Heat 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Silvana Lima (BRA), Coco Ho (HAW) Heat 2: Carissa Moore (HAW), Sage Erickson (USA), Bronte Macaulay (AUS) Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Keely Andrew (AUS), Mikaela Greene (AUS) Heat 4: Lakey Peterson (USA), Caroline Marks (USA), Paige Hareb (NZL) Heat 5: Tyler Wright (AUS), Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW), Macy Callaghan (AUS) Heat 6: Johanne Defay (FRA), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS), Malia Manuel (HAW)