The Reunion Pro - Day Two
Last Updated on Tuesday, 04 October 2011 16:20
Sam Bennett, who won his final heat of the leaderboard stage.
There's only so much pressure a person can take. Today many were pushed to those limits - most thrived, but a couple dived.
When talking to a rider this morning he mentioned that the amount of pressure built up is intense. The leaderboard style heats providing many anxious moments for the riders, as well as the audience, and that by the Round 3 many of the riders are at boiling point and ready to erupt.
BP was one that seemed to thrive on the pressure. He got the first place he needed to progress out of Round 3 by landing a couple of high risk flips. Then his Round 4 heat against Jeff Hubbard was something else - a giant flip that gave him a 9 with mere seconds left.
On the flipside, you couldn't help, but feel for Diego Cabrera when he walked out of the competitors area as he watched his traveling companion Elliot Morales and Magno Oliveria end his chances of making it through to the man-on-man rounds. It was so futile, he'd surfed hard, but at that point his future in the event was in the hands of others.
The final leaderboard: 
Round 4
Amaury Laverhne 15.85 defeated David Hubbard 10.80
Amaury seems destined to progress to the pointy end of the event and pretty comfortably makes it through another heat.
Jake Stone 14.50 defeated Mike Stewart 11.70
An even heat with both riders going wave for wave until Stoney gets a longer one that allows him to link a handful of rolls and spins - the winning wave.
Ben Player 16.65 defeated Jeff Hubbard 15.90 (A Must Watch!)
Could've easily been the event's final. An insanely close heat with both riders going hard. They definitely bring the best out of each other. Hubb had the edge all heat as he caught was slightly bigger than Ben, but then Ben busted his mega flip giving him a 9 and the heat win.
Pierre-Louis Costes 16.25 defeated Ryan Hardy 10.55
PLC landed two massive flips on his first two waves, putting Hack in combo-land for large portion of the heat. Ryan tried to get himself out of the whole and a comeback could've been possible had he landed a big invert. The Frenchmen looks confident.
Alex Uranga 15.10 defeated Guilherme Tamega 13.50
An extremely close heat, with both riders staying within striking range of each other for the whole 20 minutes. In the end it appears that Alex destined to complete the fairytale that's forming around him this event as he shelves Tamega's World Title dreams for another event.
Michael Novy 16.35 defeated Jared Houston 14.10
Always exciting when you have two riders that compete with a more freesurfing mentality/style going up against each other. It was anyone's heat, but became Novy's win when Jerry seemingly gifted him the wave that allowed a 9 point boost. Keep an eye on Novus, it appears that he could be this event's darkhorse.
Dave Winchester 12.75 defeated Magno Oliveira 10.45
Weirdly felt as though Winny was never going to drop this heat. Not because Magno doesn't have the talented to take down the Fever, but today he just didn't appear assertive enough nor could find the best waves.
Yoan Florentin 15.50 defeated Dallas Singer 12.75
With Dallas somehow falling asleep in the noisy competitors area during the day it seemed as though he'd always have the edge of the Reunion Islander. But once Yoan got the vocal local crowd behind him, he found a momentum that didn't allow Dallas another look.
With only three riders out of the Tour's Top Ten still in the Reunion Pro, the 2011 IBA World Title race is alive and kicking!
Now to the quarter final action:
Heat 1: Amaury Laverhne (FRA) vs Jake Stone (AUS)
Heat 2: Ben Player (AUS) vs Pierre-Louis Costes (FRA)
Heat 3: Alex Uranga (ESP) vs Michael Novy (AUS)
Heat 4: Dave Winchester (AUS) vs Yoan Florentin (FRA)
Alex Uranga.
Amaury Laverhne.
Ben Player.
Contest site.
Guilherme Tamega.
Pierre-Louis Costes.
One of the annoying sea urchins.
Yoan Florentin.
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