Jeremy Flores and Heitor Alves advance to Round 4 of Hurley Pro – 2011 ASP World Tour
The iconic point-break of Lower Trestles in California, America, continued to play host to the seventh stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Hurley Pro, with the third and fourth of Round 3 taking place on Tuesday morning,
September 20.
The third heat finished in French Jeremy Flores’ favour as he got a last-minute come-from-behind victory over Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia to clinch the Round 4 spot on offer while kicking out his opponent in the race for the event title in the process.
Brazil’s Heitor Alves secured a place in Round 4 as well after barely defeating Tahiti’s Michel Bourez in the fourth heat. The outcome of the heat resulted in the latter’s elimination from the competition.
The surfing conditions at the primary event site turned out to be much better than those that the surfers had to deal with on Monday. However, the morning onshore winds kept the high-performance from getting fully utilised, which resulted in low-scoring
heats.
The third heat of Round 3 turned out to be a low-scoring battle, though it still delivered a thrilling contest between Flores and Patacchia, with the two surfers determined to extend their life in the event.
As the heat kicked off, the 23-year-old Flores managed to lock a wave in the opening minutes to earn 5.50 points off it. As the heat progressed, he struggled to catch waves and even the ones that he actually did manage to lock had little juice in them, making
it extremely tough for the Frenchman to squeeze a good score out of them. His second business-wave turned out to be a 4.77-point one, making him finish with a heat-total of 10.27 points. While the score hardly seemed like a winning one, it eventually carried
him off to victory.
Patacchia had little luck with the waves as well, but he had managed to score 5.17 and 4.40 points off a couple of them to sit at a heat-total of 9.57 points. The score kept him in the lead for most part of the 30-minute heat and it seemed that he was well
on his way to victory despite the mediocre score. However, a last-minute effort by Flores deprived him of victory and forced him out of the competition.
The fourth heat pitted Alves against Bourez in a battle for survival, offering no room for error to the two surfers. The battle was never expected to be anything short of thrilling, but the demanding surfing conditions further added to the intensity.
As the heat battle underway, a determined hunt allowed Bourez to lock a wave and earn 5.23 points off it. However, Alves immediately responded with a 5.70-point to move ahead of the Tahitian on the scoreboard.
The Brazilian soon followed his first business-wave with another relatively decent wave, this time adding a 5.93 on the scoreboard and moving to a heat-total of 11.63 points. Bourez desperately kept the hunt going to get the score necessary for the win,
but despite getting the highest single-wave score of the heat, a 6.20, he finished with a heat-total of 11.43 points. The 0.20-point deficit forced him to surrender victory to his rival.
For more updates on Round 3 of Hurley Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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