KEIKI

He led the world tour most of the year, but in the end, all Hawaiian Jeff Hubbard, could do was wait and hope that his nearest rival, the new kid on the block from France, Pierre-Louis Costes, would not make it into the semi-finals of the 2011 NMD-Pride-Stealth Fronton Pro today. The French 21-year–old took off deep on a ten foot set wave in his quarterfinal heat, disappeared behind the thick lip came and out seconds later on the foam-ball with a clenched fist. Pierre-Louis Costes will remember the wave as the one that won him his first world title. “That was the wave of my life. I will always remember that wave; I will always remember Fronton. I love this place”, said Costes.

The schoolteacher from Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia with a passion for big waves, recently signed a board sponsorship deal with NMD- one of the event sponsors- and was selected to be the international wildcard for the event. Jason Finlay, the man who stopped Jeff Hubbard in round four yesterday, put on a display of seamanship for the spectators as he pulled into barrels the size of two story buildings, aimed for the lips and went for airs on his way to victory in the heaviest waves ridden all year on the Men’s World Tour. “I’m the happiest man in the world. The main goal was never to win the comp, I just wanted to do some big airs and try and mix it up with these guys. The whole comp I tried my hardest, so it paid off”, said Finlay.

Everything had to go his way for him to win the event and the world title. Australian Ryan Hardy’s world title plans went horribly astray in his round four heat at the 2011 NMD-Pride-Stealth Fronton Pro today. He failed to land a routine invert on his first wave and lost a fin, for the first time in competition this year, on his second. He soldiered on, in the solid six foot and windy conditions, catching one of his scoring waves with only one fin, until his board caddy was able to give him a spare as the heat reached the half way mark. Hardy looked as though he was going to pull off the comeback of the contest as he pulled into a big righthander but it pinched at the end and did not let him out. The heat ended with Hardy needing another scoring wave. His good friend and countryman, Mitch Rawlins, won the heat and ended his dream of becoming this year’s world champion. “I feel totally deflated, I feel like my life has basically just ended”, said Hardy.

International wildcard, Jason Finlay from Australia, thought his competition was over as he heard his opponent and world title contender, Hawaiian Jeff Hubbard’s, score announced in the final minute of their heat. But with ten seconds to go, Finlay caught a wave, popped an air reverse and caused the first upset of the morning. He won the heat and ended the Hawaiian’s world title campaign.

His girlfriend kissed him in the competitor’s area after he beat local wildcard, Elliot Morales, in one of the closest heats of the day. Pierre-Louis Costes, is the only world title contender left in the contest but still needs to win his next heat in the quarterfinals, if he is to become the first French world champion and stop Hawaiian Jeff Hubbard from winning his third world title.

Trials winner, Andrew Lester from Australia, continued his winning ways beating fellow Australian Dave Winchester in their fourth round match up. Jared Houston from South Africa and Dallas Singer from Australia left their opponents, Brazilian Eder Luciano and Australian Ben Player, in combination situations at the end of their heats and advanced into the quarterfinals. Amaury Lavernhe from Reunion Island and Uri Valadao from Brazil also advanced into the quarterfinals.

International Start Times:

Australia:       23h00 (Sydney) 20h00 (Perth)

Brazil:              10h00

England:          12h00

France:             13h00

Hawaii:             02h00

Portugal:          12h00

South Africa:  14h00

Spain:                 13h00

United States: 04h00 (West Coast) 07h00 (East Coast)

NMD signs their newest team rider Jason Finlay…
He joins the likes of Ben Player and Dave Winchester on the killer team, and will be strutting his stuff as the only international wildcard in this years NMD/Stealth/Pride Fronton event in the Canary islands. 
Check out the clip, and wait for his new signature model to be in stores soon.