The first day of the inaugural Oakley Pro Bali kicked off in head high plus surf last night/this morning. Going from the scoreboard, the final heat of the Round was the one to be watching. John John bested Sebastian Zietz 19.87 to 19.37. With Seabass in the lead in the neck-and-neck battle, John John caught a mid-sized set in the dying seconds to launch into a stratospheric alley-oop that all five of the judges acclaimed with a perfect 10 point ride, taking the win.

An ecstatic Florence commented: “I was in the air and saw the bottom and everything happened so fast that I was just reacting. I claimed it pretty hard, but I was so stoked. The ankle is strapped but the brace gives me a lot of confidence and it feels good out there. Just psyched to be at Keramas, this wave is amazing and the boys are ripping so hard.”

Other strong performances came for Mick Fanning, Jordy Smith, Nat Young, as well as Michel Bourez and Jeremy Flores.

“The wind turned offshore right before our heat and I knew there were going to be some barrels,” Flores said. “Kelly bet it with Belly that it was going to happen and I was like yeeees !! I know that with the size there is now at Keramas, that wave is one of the best in the world so I’m happy that for once it went my way. The last few heats I’ve had I lost by 0.03 0.07 so I was like please not this time, I’m stoked ! I was clearly looking for barrels, lately I’ve been injuring myself doing airs so I’m still a little scared and I definitely like it better when it’s barrelling. Bali is just another one of those places where you just enjoy every moment, I’ve been having so much fun since I’m here, same as Fiji and probably Tahiti coming up, so yeah that’s exactly the kind of event I live for.”

Top seeds Parko, Taj and Kelly will all surf in Round 2.

OAKLEY PRO BALI ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.93, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.17, Dusty Payne (HAW) 8.60
Heat 2: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.67, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.00, Travis Logie (ZAF) 0.00
Heat 3: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 14.56, Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.93, Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.63
Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.46, Oney Anwar (IND) 11.93, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 9.03
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.56, Brett Simpson (USA) 6.83, Bruce Irons (HAW) 5.50
Heat 6: Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.10, Kelly Slater (USA) 12.00, Jack Robinson (AUS) 5.83
Heat 7: Nat Young (USA) 17.03, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 13.90, Kai Otton (AUS) 13.40
Heat 8: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 16.07, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.50, Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.67
Heat 9: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.43, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 15.17, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 8.17
Heat 10: Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.30, Adam Melling (AUS) 14.10, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 12.93
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.94, Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.77, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 13.90
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 19.87, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 19.37, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.60

OAKLEY PRO BALI ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Jack Robinson (AUS)
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Bruce Irons (HAW)
Heat 3: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Oney Anwar (IND)
Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 6: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 7: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 8: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 9: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 10: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 11: Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 12: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)