Merewether's Ryan Callinan dropped out of the race for one of Australia's two male surfing Olympic spots with defeat to friend and countryman Jack Freestone at the Pipe Masters on Thursday.
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With classic Pipeline barrels on offer, Callinan led the 50-minute round of 32 heat with a 7.53 two-wave total.
Freestone (6.16) needed a 4.4 to progress ahead of Callinan and keep his own Olympic hopes alive. The natural-footer found the exit on a backhand barrel inside the last six minutes to take the lead with a 4.93.
Callinan needed a 4.24 but wiped out before Freestone increased the requirement to 4.84 with a 3.73. The Novocastrian wiped out heavily on a close-out in the final seconds after Freestone capped the heat with his best barrel for a 6.83 to win 11.76 to 7.53.
"It always sucks to come up against a friend, and Ryan is basically my best friend on tour, but the positive side is you get to surf it with your friend, so it was cool, I had a good time," Freestone said.
The heat win at the season-ending Pipe Masters secured Freestone's qualification for the 2020 championship tour. Callinan was equal 12th and safe inside the top 22 before the event, while Freestone was 18th.
Both needed to go deep into the contest to secure a year-ending top 10 place. The leading two surfers from each nation inside the top 10 earn a start at next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Top-ranked Australian Owen Wright, seventh before the Pipe Masters, earlier lost to Brazilian Yago Dora.
Julian Wilson, the next best Australian on the standings, was 11th before the event and won his heat against Brazilian Willian Cardoso to keep his Tokyo chances alive.
Wright's defeat was good news for Merewether's Morgan Cibilic, who needs Dora or Deivid Silva to do well at Pipeline and finish inside the top 22 on the CT.
Silva and Dora, 21st and 25th respectively on the CT before the event, have re-qualified through the second-tier tour. If at least one also qualifies via the CT, it opens a spot for Cibilic. He finished 11th on the QS, one place outside guaranteeing a maiden CT berth.
Silva lost to Michel Bourez, leaving him 22nd on the live standings with Dora, Jesse Mendes and Soli Bailey in contention to overtake him.