Isabella Nichols has knocked Stephanie Gilmore out of the Newcastle Cup in another World Surf League upset to progress to the final four at Merewether Beach.
The 23-year-old Sunshine Coast talent showed no fear against the seven-time world champion, pairing a 6.67-point wave with a 7.23 effort, the second pinched from under Gilmore’s nose when she passed it up.
The result is Nichols’ best on the Championship Tour while Gilmore’s defeat follows the earlier exits of fellow highly-fancied Australians Tyler Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons.
It’s a blow to Gilmore’s hunt for an eighth world title after her exit at the same stage in the season opener in Hawaii last December.
Not that Nichols will care, the 23-year-old showing skill to first establish the lead then composure to hold her nerve in the final minutes while holding priority from a desperate Gilmore.
Fellow Australians Keely Andrew and Bronte Macaulay are still to surf in their quarter-finals after action resumed late on Friday.
Macaulay will meet young gun Caroline Marks while Andrew faces another American, Courtney Conlogue.
Newcastle hasn’t hosted a Championship Tour event since 1993, with action returning to the NSW city after the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of regular stops on the Gold Coast and Bells Beach.