France’s Jeremy Flores triumphs in first round of Billabong Rio Pro – Surf news
Frenchman Jeremy Flores prevailed over American Clifton James Hobgood and Australian Josh Kerr in the eighth heat of the first round of the Billabong Rio Pro on Tuesday, May 17 at Arpoador in Brazil.
None of the three surfers had been able to make a strong impact during the season so far. Looking to change all that, Flores, Hobgood and Kerr battled hard throughout their heat. Unfortunately, their battle turned out to be more against the challenging conditions and less against each other. With very few good waves on offer, they found themselves struggling to lock a good wave.
Flores was the only one who managed to reap something substantial from the waves that did show up. He threw down a flurry of impressive tricks on both his waves to end up with a total score of 13.56. The score turned out to be the highest of the heat and secured his place in the third round.
The American surfer never seemed at ease in the water and ended up with 10.80 after failing to really make the best of the small waves that came his way. Aussie Kerr did not put up a fight against his rivals and succumbed to mother-nature. He ended up with a two-wave score of 7.43.
The first round of the competition started up after six days of continuous lay days due to the challenging conditions that have been prevailing over Barra Da Tijuca. Throughout the previous week, there had been a serious lack of good tides which convinced the event organisers to put the event on hold until improvement was seen. While the women’s Billabong Rio Pro was carried with just 2-4 foot waves on offer, the men’s competition waited for the oceans to show some kindness.
On Tuesday, the prayers of the event organisers, surfers and the fans of the sport were finally answered, though not completely. The conditions slightly improved and the primary event site now offered around five foot waves.
With the biggest names in surfing present in Rio De Janeiro for the third stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’s World Tour, the competition promised some of the highest level of surfing in the world. The first round, even without ideal conditions, did feature some epic battles.
The second and third round of the men’s 2011 Billabong Rio Pro is expected to go down on Wednesday as the conditions are expected to improve further.
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