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A lay day has been called for the Margaret RIver Pro surf event on Thursday, with conditions expected to pick up from Friday onwards.

Kelly Slater will have to wait at least another day to salvage his Margaret River Pro campaign after a lay day was called for the event.

Slater finished last in his opening-round three-man heat on Wednesday, meaning he'll need to survive the elimination second round to keep hopes alive of winning the WA event for the first time.

The 11-time world champion will take on Adrian Buchan and Caio Ibelli when competition resumes, likely on Friday.

The top two surfers in each heat will progress to round three.

Japan's Kanoa Igarashi, John John Florence, Owen Wright, Julian Wilson, Italo Ferreira, Jeremy Flores, Jordy Smith and Gabriel Medina were among the big names to progress safely to round three.

In the women's event, seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, Sally Fitzgibbons, Coco Ho, Caroline Marks, Paige Hareb, Carissa Moore, Courtney Conlogue and Lakey Peterson were the big names to progress straight to round three.