Jeremy Flores and Ricardo Santos survive Round 2 of Billabong Pro Tahiti – 2011 ASP World Tour
Once the second round of Billabong Pro Tahiti resumed at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Friday, August 26, French Jeremy Flores defeated Tahiti’s Heiarii Williams, while Brazil’s Ricardo Santos defeated Australia’s Taj Burrow in the first and second heat
respectively.
Success in Round 2 allowed Flores and Santos to confirm their place in Round 3, while forcing their rivals into an early exit.
The opening heats of Round 2 kicked off in terrifying surfing conditions, with solid six-to-eight foot plus waves and strong winds at the event site.
Facing the local wildcard Williams in the first heat, the 23-year-old Flores got off to a cautious start. He eventually locked a wave in the later stages of the battle to earn 4.50 points off it and immediately followed it up with a 5.17-point wave to finish
with a heat-total of 9.67 points.
While the score hardly seemed like a difficult one to beat, the windy conditions got the better of Williams and he ended up getting a wipe-out. This allowed his French rival to walk away with a convenient win.
Talking to a reporter later in the day, Flores said, “This morning was one of the gnarliest heats I’ve ever had in my life. I was sitting out there with Heiarii [Williams], who is one of the best heavy wave surfers ever, and he got an incredible wipe-out.
It’s not perfect, it’s windy and it’s messy and it’s scary. I spent a lot of time underwater in that morning heat and I hit the reef and I was just happy to survive the line-up.”
The second heat saw Santos bring about one of the biggest upset of the day by ousting the Australian force, Burrow, from the competition in just the second round.
Despite being pitted against one of the strongest contenders for the 2011 World Tour title in a sudden-death situation, the Brazilian held his nerve and came up with a winning performance. Collecting an amazing 8.50-point wave and following it up with a
6.00-point wave, Santos finished with a heat-total of 14.50 points.
Meanwhile, Burrow once again failed to find his rhythm during the 30-minute heat and struggled to make the most of his waves at Teahupo’o. He finished the heat with a heat-total of 8.50 points, which included a 3.00 and 5.50-point wave.
The second round of Billabong Pro Tahiti has resumed after five consecutive lay days that were called by the event organisers with the intention of resuming the completion once the huge swell forecasted to hit the event site by Thursday started filling in.
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