Defending ReefHawaiian Pro champion Sebastien Zietz didn’t have the best score during Saturday’s half-day of surfing at Haleiwa, but he’s still hanging around as the first event of the Triple Crown of Surfing is expected to end today.

Zietz advanced to the final day by posting a score of 13.30 points (out of a total of 20) in the afternoon of a rising swell in the 2- to 4-foot range. The tough heat featured local boy Zietz, Tahiti’s Michel Bourez, Hawaii’s Mason Ho and Australia’s Adam Melling. Midway through the heat, Bourez posted the high score of the day (18.47) as he seeks to win here for the first time in five years. It put pressure on Zietz, who found himself on the outside looking in before posting a good enough number to put him into the quarterfinals.

"It definitely came down to the end and when you don’t have a high score it’s always sketchy when it goes down like that," said Zeitz. "It was a three-way battle. I saw Melling went right on the last wave and I went left and the wave was totally a left and then he tried to turn back and go left after we crossed paths, but I am stoked they didn’t give me the interference. I was curious to see what the score was. I am looking forward to hopefully some rights tomorrow. I am hoping the swell doesn’t turn to north so we can get some rights and lay down a few front-side hacks."

Bourez crushed the small waves with his power brand of surfing. It was good enough for the highest combined total of the event. His high score of a 9.87 (out of 10) on the first of two waves featured three huge power turns that had the beach erupting with cheers. Bourez is a past champion at the Reef Hawaiian Pro winning in 2008 and is looking forward to a chance at making it happen again.

"I am here every year to try to win the event, so to win again would be a dream," Bourez said. "Iwas focusing on the left and then when I realized I couldn’t score going left … I changed my strategy and luckily I got those two rights. Going into the heat I was thinking it’s always hard coming up against the locals. (Zietz) won last year and Mason was feeling hot because he just won the HIC Pro (at Sunset). So it’s always hard. I am looking forward to the final day, then Sunset and Pipe. It would mean the world to me to win the Triple Crown."