Jeremy Flores clinches victory in Round 1 of Quiksilver Pro New York – 2011 ASP World Tour
Frenchman, Jeremy Flores, walked away with top honours from the second heat of Quiksilver Pro New York’s Round 1 which was staged at Long Beach in New York, on Tuesday, September 6.
Flores clinched the win by defeating USA’s Gabe Kling to secure his place in the third round, while the latter moved into the relegation Round 2 to compete for a spot in Round 3.
The heat was supposed to be a three-man battle, but Dane Reynolds had made an official announcement of his withdrawal from the competition earlier in the day, citing a rib injury as the reason. With him pulling out of the event, the second heat became a
head-to-head battle between Flores and Kling.
As the battle commenced in two-to-four foot waves at the primary event site, Flores immediately moved into the lead by locking a wave to score 4.50 points off it. While it was not seem like much, it still proved to be sufficient to put Kling under pressure.
The American seemed to be out of luck and despite enjoying the advantage of local knowledge of the waves, he was unable to do much about the number and quality of waves that came his way.
Late into the heat, the 23-year-old Flores caught another relatively decent wave to score 5.17 points off it and moved to a heat-total of 9.67 points. While the two-wave total hardly seemed like a winning one, it turned out to be adequate to carry him off
to victory.
Kling kept on struggling throughout the course of the battle and eventually finished with a heat-total of 3.43 points, which comprised of a 1.90 and 1.53-point wave. As disappointing as the performance was, the American did not have to suffer heavily because
of it as the first round was a non-elimination one. Despite conceding victory to his rival, Kling still remained in contention for the event-title, though now he faced a do-or-die situation in Round 2.
With Reynolds withdrawing from the competition, Hawaii’s Keanu Asing will be replacing him in the second round.
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