Jeremy Flores dominates Cory Lopez in Round 3 of Billabong Pro Tahiti – 2011 ASP World Tour
After a series of exciting Round 2 battles, the latest stop of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)World Tour, Billabong Pro Tahiti, moved on to the Round 3 action on Friday afternoon, August 26, at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti.
Frenchman Jeremy Flores came up with an outstanding performance to defeat America’s Cory Lopez in the opening heat of Round 3 and secure his place in the fourth round, eliminating his rival from the competition in the process.
With over six-to-eight foot waves gracing the event site, things looked to be extremely promising for those adept at big-wave surfing, and raised expectations for thrilling performances by the ASP Top 34.
The 23-year-old Flores had shown his comfort in the huge swell during his Round 2 heat earlier in the day and it seemed only natural to expect another solid impact from him as he faced the lethal replacement surfer Lopez, in the opening heat of Round 3.
As the heat kicked off, Flores wasted absolutely no time in asserting his dominance in the head-to-head battle. Locking the very first wave, he pulled off a string of exquisite backhand tricks, earning a near-perfect score of 9.80 for the effort. A long
and patient search eventually brought him to his second best score of the heat, an 8.83, taking him to a heat-total of 18.63 points, the highest two-wave total of the competition so far.
The 34-year-old Lopez had gotten off to an amazing start at the latest elite tour event, but failed to make a solid impact in his Round 3 heat. The onslaught by his rampaging French rival left him completely baffled and he ended up succumbing to the pressure.
Not only did Lopez struggle to catch waves, he failed to make the ones that he eventually caught really count. Earning 4.83 and 4.13 points off his top-two waves, he finished with a heat-total of 8.96 points, surrendering victory to the French.
Talking to a reporter later in the day, Flores said, “After this morning, I didn’t want anything else to do with those conditions. This afternoon’s heat had perfect waves. It’s still big, but it’s not nearly as messy as this morning. I’ve had really tough
heats today. I had Heiarii [Williams] this morning, one of the best guys out here, and then I had Cory (Lopez) this afternoon who is amazing. I’m so stoked that I got to surf these conditions twice in one day and I’m feeling very confident moving forward.”
Flores turned out to be the most in-form surfer of the day and could not have hoped for a better way to earn his place into the fourth round, where the competition was only going to get even tougher.
For updates on Round 3 of Billabong Pro Tahiti, stay tuned to bettor.com
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