Event organisers at the Quik Pro Goldie opted for an early start this weekend for the opening leg of the season, running Round 1 and 2 of the men’s event as well as Round 1 of the women’s.

With the sandbank reportedly being as good as it gets, Snapper offered up plenty of opening opportunities for world tour competitors to shake off early season nerves despite the somewhat inconsistent, smaller swell pulse.

As many expected, Kelly came storming out the gates with one of the day’s standout performances and one of the few to get barrelled, conditions mainly demanding powerful rail-to-rail surfing from the Top 34. Gold Coast specialists Parko and Josh Kerr were others to unleash a couple of the highest scoring manoeuvres of the day.

The biggest Round 1 upset saw Dane relegate defending champ Mick Fanning to Round 2 with an uncharacteristic focused and consistent performance that still have many wondering whether the Venturan might not be looking to make it back on tour this year.

Dane taking a more strategic heat approach to his previous inconsistent all-out style of surfing.

But Day 2 witnessed two even bigger upsets, with Jordy Smith losing the injury wildcard Tiago Pires and John John Florence going down to South African Travis Logie.

“It (the competition) can be cruel at times, but it can also give you the greatest thrill of your life,” Smith said. “In the heat before me it was super consistent and around the five minute mark of our heat there was a few waves, but after that it switched off. I had two mid-range scores, and I waited for the next one for 16 minutes and it never came. I feel like my surfing was on point, but the ocean didn’t deliver. Today wasn’t my day. You have to move on.”

With Mick Fanning over-coming his Round 2 match-up against wildcard trialist Matt Banting, the tour’s top seeds are looking to dominate the first stop of the year.

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 1 Results:

Heat 1: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.76, Travis Logie (ZAF) 13.40, Julian Wilson (AUS) 12.00
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.17, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.83, Dion Atkinson (AUS) 7.37
Heat 3: Frederick Patacchia (HAW) 13.03, Brett Simpson (USA) 12.37, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 8.04
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.43, Bebe Durbidge (AUS) 13.60, Tiago Pires (PRT) 9.93
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.97, Matt Banting (AUS) 13.67, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 11.07
Heat 6: Dane Reynolds (USA) 14.83, Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.20, Adam Melling (AUS) 10.50
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.90, Kai Otton (AUS) 10.10, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 8.63
Heat 8: Nat Young (USA) 13.50, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.17, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 8.30
Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) 17.54, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 12.54, Mitch Crews (AUS) 12.50
Heat 10: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.67, John John Florence (HAW) 10.10, Jadson Andre (BRA) 8.33
Heat 11: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.73, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.54, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 10.27
Heat 12: Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.10, Owen Wright (AUS) 10.87, Kolohe Andino (USA) 7.50

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 2 Results:

Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.67 def. Matt Banting (AUS) 9.17
Heat 2: Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.70 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.67
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.56 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 9.00
Heat 4: Dion Atkinson (AUS) 16.23 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 7.00
Heat 5: Travis Logie (ZAF) 13.77 def. John John Florence (HAW) 7.20
Heat 6: Owen Wright (AUS) 9.85 def. Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 6.57
Heat 7: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.17 def. Aritz Aranburu (ESP) 10.17
Heat 8: Mitch Crews (AUS) 13.76 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 7.83

Upcoming Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 2 Match-Ups:

Heat 9: Sebastian Zeitz (HAW), Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 10: Miguel Pupo (BRA), Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 11: Bebe Durbidge (AUS), Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Adam Melling (AUS)