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Merewether local stuns Florence in WSL

Ed JacksonAAP
Julian Wilson is among the Australians in action on Thursday at the WSL event in Newcastle.
Camera IconJulian Wilson is among the Australians in action on Thursday at the WSL event in Newcastle. Credit: AAP

He's beaten world No.1-ranked surfer John-John Florence with a broken foot, and local rookie Morgan Cibilic is far from done at the World Surf League event in Newcastle.

The Merewether local produced a stunning upset at his home beach on Thursday, eliminating two-time world champion Florence in a round of 32 heat at the Newcastle Cup.

Cibilic posted a two-wave score of 17.13 out of 20, including a 9.03 ride, to defeat Florence (13.16) and book his spot in the last 16.

Making Cibilic's performance even more impressive, he was surfing with a fractured metatarsal which he initially feared would rule him out of the event before Thursday's heat.

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"I wasn't really thinking about competing, I was more thinking about just getting ready for the next event really," Cibilic said of his foot injury.

"When I first did it, I thought I was out but it came good and it wasn't as bad as we thought."

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Having overcome Florence, the 21-year-old is starting to dream of doing something special in just the second WSL tour event of his career.

"Win the thing," Cibilic said when asked what his aim is for the remainder of the tournament.

"It's definitely a massive confidence boost.

"We'll see what happens."

Cibilic will next face fellow Australian Wade Carmichael for a spot in the quarter-finals after the 28-year-old scored a 7.50 late in his heat against Seth Moniz to pip the American by less than a point.

Another local, Ryan Callinan, also won through to the last 16 where he'll face Owen Wright in another all-Australian battle.

Thursday's action also included wins for Olympic-bound Julian Wilson, who defeated Western Australia product Jack Robinson in a fiery heat.

Robinson was penalised for interference late in the heat after failing to get out of Wilson's way when the 32-year-old had priority, resulting in his highest-counting wave being scratched from the scores.

"We'll have plenty more heats together, he's a good kid and one of my favourite surfers to watch," Wilson said.

"He's got to get out of the way though when I've got priority and there's one minute left."

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