Jeremy Flores and Jonathan Gonzalez remain successful in Round 1 of Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2011
Quiksilver Pro Portugal continued with the 12th and 13th heat of round of 96 (Round 1) at the beach-break of Ribera D’Ilhas in Ericeira, Portugal, on Tuesday afternoon, June 14.
France’s Jeremy Flores bested Hawaii’s John John Florence, Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves and Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam in the 12th heat to advance to the second round. Florence finished in runner-up place to secure a place in the next round as well,
whereas both Graves and Boukhiam were eliminated from the competition after finishing in third and fourth place respectively.
Venezuela’s Jonathan Gonzalez emerged triumphant in the 13th heat of Round 1 to get his place confirmed in the next round. Puerto Rico’s Vasco Ribeiro successfully avoided elimination as well by finishing in second place. However, South Africa’s
Shaun Joubert and America’s Brett Simpson were removed from the contention for the event title after rounding out the third and fourth positions respectively.
Flores did not have a smooth sailing during the 12th heat at all. The demanding surfing conditions were really testing him as he struggled to catch waves. However, he caught a couple to score 6.83 and 7.43 points off them to earn a total of 14.26
points, a score that eventually carried him off to victory.
Even though Florence missed out on victory after earning 5.67 and 6.07 points off his two waves, the effort did award him with a runner-up finish and consequently a place in the next round.
Graves earned 11.20 points off his two waves, while Boukhiam finished last with a disappointing heat-total of 8.87 points. Neither of them had any reason to stay at Ribera D’Ilhas any longer.
As the 13th heat kicked off, Gonzalez immediately caught a wave to open his account with a score of 5.83. Even though he had a tough time catching waves later on, he did manage to lock on to a really good one in the final moments of the heat to
execute a set of spectacular turns and flips. The wave earned him an incredible 8.50, moving him to a heat-total of 14.33 points.
Ribeiro had a good start to the heat, moving into the lead early on after earning 6.00 off his first wave. His second wave earned him a score of 6.50 to take him to a total of 12.50 points. He was well set to win the heat till Gonzalez moved ahead with his
superb second wave, leaving the Puerto Rican to settle for second place.
Joubert finished with a heat-total of 11.84 points while Simpson managed to get 10.26 points off his two waves. Both the surfers were unable to survive the round after giving up relatively weak performances.
For more updates on the first round of Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2 011, stay tuned to bettor.com.
Tags: