Yuri Sodre and Joan Duru secure success in Round 1 of 2011 Reef Hawaiian Pro
The crowd kept getting treated to a heavy dose of thrilling action as the first stop of Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the Reef Hawaiian Pro, continued at the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, with the Round of 128 (Round 1) pitting Brazil’s Yuri Sodre against
Hawaii’s Jamie O’Brien, Jason Shibata and Tonino Benson in the ninth heat, while featuring a showdown between France’s Joan Duru, America’s Luke Davis, Hawaii’s Makai McNamara and Australia’s Luke Stedman in the tenth heat.
The ninth heat saw Sodre come up with the most impressive performance of the lot to walk away with victory, consequently confirming his place in the Round of 96 (Round 2). O’Brien secured the runner-up position to advance through into the next round as well.
Shibata and Benson got eliminated from the competition after rounding out the third and fourth position respectively.
Duru completely stole the show during the tenth heat through a remarkable performance, making the battle pretty one-sided. As a result, he comfortably advanced through into the next round. Davis successfully extended his life in the competition by finishing
in second place. McNamara finished in third place, whereas Stedman rounded out the bottom position. The disappointing performance by the two surfers got them ejected from the competition.
As the ninth heat of the opening round got underway, the 33-year-old Sodre only took a few minutes to get used to the demanding conditions before locking a wave to squeeze 5.83 points off it. He soon added an additional 4.50 points to his account, moving
to a heat-total of 10.33 points and consequently sealing the fate of the contest in his favour.
O’Brien earned 5.10 points off his first wave and later followed it up with a 3.13-point wave to finish in second place with a two-wave total of 8.23 points.
Shibata finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.04 points, which included a 4.07 and 3.97-point wave. Benson rounded out the bottom position after finishing with a heat-total of 8.03 points.
The tenth heat saw the 22-year-old Frenchman, Duru, start off patiently, but gradually build momentum to eventually begin an onslaught in the final minutes of the heat. He locked his first business wave to unload a string of exquisite tricks and earn 7.13
points for the effort, only to follow it up with yet another impressive 7.10-point wave. The resultant heat-total of 14.23 points carried him off to a convincing victory, allowing him to advance through into the next round confidently.
Davis put up a determined effort to reach out for victory, though to no avail. His two-wave total of 9.87 points did, however, earn him the runner-up place and thus confirmed his place in the second round.
McNamara got off to a confident start, earning 5.00 points off his first wave in surfing conditions that were nothing less than challenging. However, his determination to add another decent score to his account got him called for interference on a wave that
had earned him 6.13 points. He eventually finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.63 point, which consequently led to his ejection from the competition.
Stedman struggled to hold his own during the 25-minute four-man battle and was apparently outdone by the demanding conditions. After a long and lacklustre hunt for competitive scores, the Australian finished in fourth place with a heat-total of 7.90 points,
getting eliminated from the event in the process.
For more updates on Round 1 of the Reef Hawaiian Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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