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Australian surfer Owen Wright has won his seeding round heat at the Pipe Masters in Hawaii to advance straight to the round of 32.
Tokyo Olympics hopefuls Owen Wright and Julian Wilson are among the seven Australian surfers to advance straight to the round of 32 at the season-ending Pipe Masters in Hawaii.
Wright won his seeding-round heat at Pipeline ahead of compatriot Jack Freestone and Italy's Leonardo Fioravanti with a score of 7.94.
The 29-year-old Wright suffered a serious head injury at Pipeline while free-surfing at the legendary reef break before the 2015 tour event there.
However, he recovered to return to full competition in 2017 and has since won tour WSL events.
"I felt comfortable, and I'm ready to go again," he said.
Wright will now face Brazil's Yago Dora in the next round.
Soli Bailey and Adrian Buchan also won their seeding heats while fellow Australians Wilson, Freestone and Ryan Callinan earned qualification for the last 32 by finishing second.
Wade Carmichael also joined his countrymen in the last 32 after finishing second in his elimination round heat following his third-placed finish in the seeding round. He will now face Brazil's Caio Ibelli.
Wilson takes on Brazilian Willian Cardoso in the last 32, with Aussie duo Callinan and Freestone set to go head to head for a place in the last 16.
Bailey has been drawn against Japan's Kanoa Igarashi while Buchan competes against American Griffin Colapinto.
The final stop on the World Surf League calendar will decide the world title and some of the provisional qualifiers for the men's surfing event at next year's Olympics.
Going in to Pipeline, Wright and Wilson are the two Australian surfers in line for Olympic selection.
The five surfers in contention for the world title at Pipeline all made it through to the last 32.
Series leader Italo Ferreira of Brazil was second in his seeding heat while defending world champion Gabriel Medina had the highest score, 17.30, in the opening round.
South African Jordy Smith, Brazil's Filipe Toledo and American Kolohe Andino are also in the hunt to be crowned 2019 champion.
