Jeremy Flores and Josh Kerr defy odds to qualify for Rip Curl Pro Quarter-finals – Surfing News
France’s Jeremy Flores and Australia’s Josh Kerr prevailed in their respective Round 5 heats of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, second stop of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, which resumed at the iconic Bells Beach in Victoria,
Australia, on Friday, April 6.
Flores got the better of Hawaii’s John John Florence in the first heat of Round 5 to confirm his place in the Quarter-finals while removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
The second heat saw Brazil’s Adriano de Souza succumb to Kerr, consequently getting eliminated from the competition while sending his rival into the Quarter-finals.
On what was expected to be the final day of the latest ASP World Tour event, the beach saw clean three-to-five foot waves on offer. This gave surfers plenty of opportunity to dig deep in their bag of tricks to produce a series of exquisite performances.
Pitted against an in-form Florence in the opening heat of the fifth round, Flores surely had his work cut out for him. His Hawaiian rival was one of the most formidable competitors to have in big waves and the prevailing surfing conditions surely favoured
him.
The Frenchman had no intention of letting the intimidation get to him and therefore pushed himself real hard during the course of his hunt for a couple of good scores in what was turning out to be a wave-starved heat.
The 23-year old Flores opened his account with a 6.50-point wave and went on to add an additional 8.43 points to his score to finish with a heat-total of 14.93 points.
The 19-year-old Florence got off to an excellent start, scoring an 8.17 off his first business-wave, but despite a determined search, he was only able to follow it up with a 6.73-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 14.90 points, consequently losing
the Quarter-final spot to Flores by merely 0.03 points.
The second heat featured another exciting match-up as Kerr and De Souza fought tooth-and-nail for top honours.
The Australian surfer put his local knowledge of the waves to use, effectively collecting a 7.67 and 9.73-point ride to finish with a heat-total of 17.40 points.
De Souza, current No.2 on the 2012 ASP World Title rankings, responded with a couple of waves in the seven-point range, which resulted in a heat-total of 15.36 points. As a result, he was forced to concede victory and thus the Quarter-final spot to his rival.
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