Jeremy Flores and Matt Wilkinson move into the quarter-finals at O’Neill Coldwater Classic
France’s Jeremy Flores and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson advanced directly into the quarter-finals at the O’Neill Coldwater Classic, the ninth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after claiming victory
in their respective Round 4 heats that went down at Santa Cruz in California, America, on Monday, November 5, 2012.
Flores took the win over French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez and America’s Kelly Slater in the third heat to earn his place in the quarter-finals, while relegating both his rivals to the fifth round to have another shot at a place in the quarter-finals.
The fourth heat saw Wilkinson prevail over Brazil’s Adriano de Souza and America’s Damien Hobgood to make the quarter-finals cut, whereas both his rivals found themselves having to surf another heat to try getting into the final eight.
The testing surfing conditions at the point-break of Steamer Lane kept the elite ASP surfers working hard to get their hands on a couple of good scores to try making it through into the quarter-finals without having to surf in Round 5.
The third heat of Round 4 had Flores squaring-off with Bourez and reigning 11-time ASP World Champion Slater in a three-man battle for the quarter-final spot.
As the battle got underway, Flores stunned everyone in attendance at the site to score a 9.37 off his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat and went on to back it up with a 6.50-point ride in the final minutes of the heat, thus getting to
a heat-total of 15.87 points. The score held up until the end to see him through to victory.
Bourez scored an 8.83 and 4.67 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 13.50 points, thus getting relegated to Round 5.
The 40-year-old Slater was also forced to take the longer road to the quarter-final after finishing third with a heat-total of 13.00 points, which comprised of a 6.17 and 6.83-point ride.
The fourth heat saw Wilkinson collect an impressive win over the formidable De Souza and intimidating Hobgood, a surfer who had not hesitated to eliminate his own brother to get this far in the competition.
Wilkinson got off to a solid start, earning a 7.60 off his first business-wave and eventually added an additional 9.00 ride to his account, thus registering a winning heat-total of 16.60 points.
De Souza finished behind him in second place with a heat-total of 15.20 points, which comprised of a 7.77 and 7.43-point ride, whereas Hobgood had to settle for bottom position after scoring a 6.00 and 4.37 off his best-two waves to register a heat-total
of 10.37 points.
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