Bonga Perkins of Hale'iwa advanced to the fourth round of the Oxbow Pro World Longboard Championship yesterday.

Perkins defeated California's Dodger Kremel, 11.5-8.3, in the third round. He is scheduled to face Brazil's Eduardo Bage in the fourth round.

The third round was completed yesterday in 4-foot waves at Anglet, France. It was a day of upsets as the top two seeds were eliminated, including Hawai'i's Ned Snow.

Australia's Josh Constable, the 2006 world champion, was eliminated in the third round by fellow Australian Harrison Roach.

The second-seeded Snow of the Big Island was upset by Australian wildcard Jackson Close, 14.25-13.0.

"Well, I suppose there are a couple of big dogs that I don't have to worry about now," Perkins said. "Still, there are so many good surfers left in the competition and you can't take anything for granted."

Perkins and Keegan Edwards are the only Hawai'i competitors remaining among the 16 surfers still in contention in the fourth round. Edwards is scheduled to face Brazil's Jamie Viudes in the fourth round.

Honolulu's Kai Sallas was also eliminated in the third round yesterday.

The winner of the Oxbow Pro will be crowned the 2007 world champion of longboard surfing.

THREE FROM HAWAI'I WIN HEATS IN TAHITI

Hawai'i surfers Andy Irons, Bruce Irons and Pancho Sullivan won their respective first-round heats at the Billabong Pro Tahiti yesterday.

The opening day of the event was completed in 3- to 5-foot waves at Teahupoo, Tahiti.

Sullivan's two-wave score of 15.93 was the second-highest total of the first round. He received scores of 9.1 and 6.83 late in the heat.

"Tahiti is so similar to Hawai'i ... I love coming here," Sullivan said. "The intensity of the waves here and the power of the ocean are really similar to Hawai'i."

Bruce Irons had one of the best rides of the day, receiving a score of 9.17 for a barrel ride.

"I just got really lucky that that wave came through at the beginning," he said.

As first-round winners, the Irons brothers and Sullivan advanced directly to the third round. Fred Patacchia Jr. of O'ahu's North Shore placed third in his heat and will have to surf in the second round.

Teahupoo is famous for big, barreling waves, but conditions were relatively small yesterday.

"Obviously, we all wish it was the big, heavy (Teahupoo) that we're all used to seeing, but with the limited waiting period, we have to get this day under our belt in order to wait and hope for bigger swells to come," Sullivan said.