YALLINGUP’S Taj Burrow was eliminated in his first heat of the Margaret River Pro this afternoon.
He was caught in a controversial double-interference call with fellow Australian Lincoln Taylor, as judges blamed both surfers for taking off on the same wave.
Burrow and Taylor were each docked half their points from their second scoring wave.
Despite an eight-point barrel ride shortly after, the penalty proved too much for Burrow who was eliminated behind Brazilians Jadson Andre and Caio Ibelli.
“I've never been so confident in my life that the interference was not on me, ever, and they called it," commented a disgruntled Burrow post heat.
"You’re in a four-man heat, you expect it, but you don't expect the call to go against you, it kind of seems like the judges should have a lot more experience with calling interference."
The elimination of Burrow follows that of number one seed and reigning world champion Joel Parkinson, who also was dealt with an interference call earlier in the week.
The result does not impact the 2013 WCT Title hopes of Burrow or Parkinson as the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro remains an ASP Prime event for the men this year.
However, next year it will return to the World Championship Tour for both the men and women.
The excellent swell forecast looks to continue, possibly peaking at more than 3.5m on Saturday with a perfect 2.5m swell and offshore winds for the final day on Sunday.
