Jeremy Flores and Matt Wilkinson win Round 5 of Billabong Pro Tahiti – 2011 ASP World Tour
Billabong Pro Tahiti continued to deliver a heavy dose of thrilling action with the first and second heat of Round 5 on Sunday, August 28, at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti.
The first heat featured a memorable performance by Frenchman Jeremy Flores as he triumphed over Tahiti’s Michel Bourez to clinch the quarter-final spot, removing his rival from the competition.
Australia’s Matt Wilkinson defeated his compatriot, Kai Otton, in the second heat to qualify for the quarter-final, bringing the competition to a premature end for his opponent.
The 21-year-old Flores may have failed to do much in the fourth round, but he made up for the lacklustre Round 4 performance with an epic show in his Round 5 bout against Bourez.
Flores, currently No.15 on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title rankings, got off to a slow start as the heat kicked off, but slowly built momentum to eventually unleash a mesmerising stunt on an eight-to-ten foot barrel, earning a
perfect 10. He immediately followed it up with yet another superb wave, earning yet another perfect score, becoming the third surfer in the history of the sport to have accomplished the feat.
The 25-year-old Bourez only managed to catch four waves, which included an 8.70 and impressive 9.43-point wave. However, the outstanding performance by his French rival completely overshadowed his effort, forcing him to settle for second place and get eliminated
from the competition.
During his post-heat interview, an ecstatic Flores said, “I’m so stoked! What’s on my mind right now is I just had a heat out there with Michel [Bourez], one of my best friends on tour and it’s so big and perfect and we got some amazing barrels. I was saying
the other day that I’d never got a 10 before and that I’d like to get one, and now I’ve gotten two in the same heat. I’m so stoked.”
After a breath-taking first heat, the second heat featured yet another intense match-up with the 22-year-old Wilkinson taking on Otton for the quarter-final spot.
Wilkinson kicked off the proceedings with an impressive 8.17-point wave to take the lead, but Otton immediately responded with a near-perfect wave for 9.53 points to move ahead of his rival on the scoreboard.
Both the surfers struggled to find another decent wave and in the end it was Wilkinson’s 4.33-point wave against Otton’s 2.03-point wave that allowed him to clinch top honours and advance to the quarter-finals.
For more updates on Round 5 of Billabong Pro Tahiti, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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