It was heartbreak for Gerroa’s Sally Fitzgibbons on Monday after she was narrowly defeated in the final 90 seconds of her must-win heat in the Round of 16 at the Margaret River Pro.

Fitzgibbons was surfing to avoid the mid-season cut for the third consecutive year. A win would have secured her spot on the 2026 Championship Tour, while a loss meant she would miss the top 14 cut for the rest of this year.

She opened the heat strongly, scoring a 6.83 on her first wave, followed by a solid 5.00, putting pressure on her opponent, Gabriela Bryan, who needed an 8.00 to advance.

With just 90 seconds remaining, it looked like Fitzgibbons had done enough. But Bryan delivered an almost flawless wave, landing two massive turns to score a 9.00 - snatching the win and a place in the quarter-finals.

Speaking to the Australian Associated Press, Bryan said: “I think for the first, like, 98 per cent of that heat it was all going against me, I could not get it together. 

“I’m like, I just need to do two big turns, and I hit the first one as hard as I could and then I was like, OK, just finish this thing - and it all worked out. So I was so stoked that wave came."

Fitzgibbons lingered in the water after the buzzer, visibly devastated by the result.

After 14 seasons on the Championship Tour, the 34-year-old remains one of Australia surfing’s most admired competitors.

She will now have to fight it out in the Challenger Series if she wants to qualify for the 2026 Championship Tour.

Whatever comes next, Sally’s journey is far from over.