Jeremy Flores and Patrick Gudauskas make it to Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2011 quarterfinals
While four of the twelve remaining surfers had advanced to the quarter-finals of the Quiksilver Pro Portugal by clinching victory in Round 4, the remaining eight surfers competed against each other for the four remaining quarter-final slots in Round 5 on
Friday, June 17th, at the beach-break of Ribeira D’Ilhas in Ericeira, Portugal.
France’s Jeremy Flores emerged triumphant in the first heat of Round 5 to extend his life in the competition and bringing America’s Cory Lopez’s title pursuit to a premature end.
In the second heat, America’s Patrick Gudauskas downed Brazil’s Junior Faria to walk away with top honours. While he qualified for the quarter-final, Faria was eliminated from the competition.
The battle between Flores and Lopez was expected to be a thrilling one as both surfers were among the strongest contenders for the event title. However, the contest turned out to be a one-man show, with Flores completely dominating Lopez in the 30-minute
heat.
Early in the heat, the French locked a wave to throw a set of flips and turns, earning 8.00 points for the effort. He caught his second wave in the final minutes of the heat to score 8.83 points and move to a two-wave total of 16.83 points.
Lopez responded to the challenge with a 5.50 and 5.40 off his two best waves. The inadequate score resulted in him missing out on victory by a deficit of 5.93 points and getting eliminated from the competition, while sending Flores one step closer to the
title.
The second heat pitted Gudauskas against Faria in a battle for survival. The American surfer had a notable edge over the Brazilian in terms of form, though the previous round had placed a question mark on his consistency.
As the heat kicked off, Gudauskas locked on a good wave that came his way to open his account with a score of 6.50. Faria responded with a 4.00-point wave to reduce the American’s lead to some extent.
In the later stages of the battle, Gudauskas rode a wave for an amazing 8.50 points, moving to a two-wave total of 15.00 points. Faria now required 8.01 points off his second wave to stay alive in the event, or else face elimination. He had to settle for
the latter after earning 7.00 points off his second wave and finishing 4.00 points behind his rival.
Consequently, the Brazilian was eliminated from the title contention, while the American advanced to the quarter-finals.
For more updates on Round 5 of Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2011, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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