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Hawaii’s John John Florence, the top-ranked surfer in the world, was eliminated in the semifinals of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach on Tuesday, falling to Brazil’s Caio Ibelli.
Also eliminated was Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau, who fell in the semifinals to South Africa’s Jordy Smith.
Both Florence and Lau were knocked out on the final wave of their rounds. Ibelli scored an 8.73 on his final wave to give him a 17.63 to 17.43 win over Florence. Smith scored a 7.70 on his final wave to eliminate Lau.
In the quarterfinals, Florence defeated Australia’s Mick Fanning, 16.70 to 15.77, while Lau topped Brazil’s Filipe Toledo 18.60 to 16.66.