O'Neill Highland Open: Round of 96 Goes Off at the Highland Open
Apr 30 2007 / Thurso, Scotland
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The second edition of the 6 Star Prime World Qualifying Series (WQS) O'Neill Highland Open by Swatch 2007 edged ever closer to the business end of the contest on Thursday as the 48 qualifiers from yesterday's round of 144 joined the 48 seeded surfers for a second consecutive day of brutal back-to-back 24 four-man heats.
With this second day of competition benefiting from unseasonably warm temperatures and clear blue skies, the Round of 96 got underway at 8am in picture perfect 6ft swell going left and right from The Point. A dramatic opening heat saw current WQS overall ratings leader Tiago Pires knocked clean out of the contest as Dane Reynolds continued to show excellent form by clinching the heat ahead of 2nd place Johnny Fryer.
Other highlight waves from the morning session, meanwhile, included French Polynesia's Michel Bourez, who managed to pull himself deep into a right-hand barrel on his fifth and final wave before nailing a textbook re-entry to close out his wave. Having grown up surfing heavy tropical reef breaks, the 25 year-old's tube riding talent clearly impressed the judges.
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Reflecting on his stunning heat victory and highest wave score of 8.83, Bourez said: "I was pretty lucky - I only got two waves of 3 point something and I knew I needed a big score so I just waited for the best wave to arrive and fortunately I got it. I'm super-stoked to make it through to the next round in my first year here in Scotland - it's pretty different compared to what I'm used to back home!"
Also joining Bourez in the Round of 48 will be O'Neill team riders including protegee Charly Martin, recent Reunion Island recruit Christophe Allary and Australia 's Jarrad Howse. Howse, 27 years-old, claimed his ticket through to the next round after finishing in 2nd place behind compatriot Jay Thompson. Speaking on his way back to the Red Bull riders' truck, Howse was clearly relieved to scrape through, saying: "It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking out there today - you don't want to come all this way and lose in your first heat. We couldn't hear the scores over the PA system so I wasn't too sure if I'd done enough to get through. It's definitely nice to get that first heat out of the way. Now I can focus on going further."
As the afternoon progressed, Southern Hemisphere surfers continued to assert their dominance in the contest, with excellent waves scored by the likes of Australians Yadin Nicol (9.00) and Adam Robertson (8.67). Refusing to be overshadowed in European waves, Spain 's Pablo Guiterrez (8.50) and reigning Highland Open Champion Russell Winter (8.17) both flew the flag high for the Northern Hemisphere and qualified through to the next round with ease.
The UK's Winter, determined not to be distracted by the thought of retaining the title he won here this time last year at Brims, said: "Yeah, I felt good out there today, pretty relaxed. I'm basically trying not to think too much about the pressure of returning here as defending champion. It's hard enough to win anyway, and I'm just glad I've already won here and I'm hoping I can do well again this year after this good start."
Stealing the show in heat 13, however, was South Africa 's surf phenom and ASP World Junior Champion Jordy Smith. The 19 year-old arrived in Thurso off the back of an outstanding 2nd place display on home turf at last week's 6 Star Prime WQS event in Durban , South Africa . And judging by this afternoon's performance, professional surfing's next big thing seems to be having few problems adapting to the conditions with a highest wave score of 9.0, and saying: "It's great to be here, going from one extreme to the next. Compared to the warm water back home, this is a very different ball game for me but I'm still having fun and hopefully the water warms up a little more for the next round tomorrow."
For those riders lucky enough to finish their heats by 3pm, it was time to check out one of the true highlights of the Highland Open experience - a lengthy afternoon whiskey tour and tasting session down the road at Wick's Old Pulteney Distillery. And for all those missing out on today's authentic Scottish treat, well let's just say they'll be playing catch-up on Saturday evening with a special dinner at the historic Ackergill Tower Castle - let's see if haggis really is the food of champions...
--Press Release
