Yet another event win for Australia’s Joel Parkinson and it’s time to hop back on the Parko bandwagon. What, you say? You never got off? Well, Kelly Slater and Adriano de Souza distractions aside, Joel has increased his point lead once again, further separating himself from the pack of title contenders.
Parko took down all comers on his way to victory, ousting Aussie wildcard, Heath Joske in round 2, fellow countryman, Kieren Perrow in round 3, California’s Bobby Martinez in the quarterfinals, fellow Aussie, Kai Otton in the semifinals, before topping Florida’s Damien Hobgood in the final. On his road to the final, Joel posted two perfect 10.0 rides and a handful of scores in the 9s.
Kelly Slater, who put on a hell of a show on Tuesday when he managed to post the highest heat total of the day, fell in the quarters to friend and fellow old-timer Taylor Knox.
After rolling over pros and causing upsets in the first three rounds, South African wildcard Sean Holmes was finally stopped in the quarterfinals when Dane Reynolds comboed him by dropping the highest heat total of the event with a 19.20 out of 20. In his previous heat, Dane had knocked out Tahitian rookie, Michel Bourez, proving to his faithful flock of admirers that he still has what it takes to compete in the big leagues.
Other big movers and shakers on the final day of competition were Damien Hobgood and Australia’s Kai Otton. The two goofyfooters defied tradition and their handicapped stance to knock out a small army of regularfoots on their way to the semis and final. Both have seen their fortunes rise as they move up the rankings on the back of their strong results.
Tune in to DailyStoke tomorrow for a World Tour rankings update, and log on to the event website for a complete recap, photos, videos on demand and heat sheets.
Round 3 heats
Heat 6 – 15.66 Dane Reynolds (USA) defeated 10.83 Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 7 – 12.57 Taylor Knox (USA) defeated 6.04 Kelly Slater (USA)
Heat 8 – 13.60 Damien Hobgood (USA) defeated 12.97 Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Quarterfinal heats
Heat 1 – 16.17 Kai Otton (AUS) defeated 10.83 Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 2 – 15.66 Joel Parkinson (AUS) defeated 10.83 Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 3 – 19.20 Dane Reynolds (USA) defeated 9.84 Sean Holmes (ZAF)
Heat 4 – 14.73 Damien Hobgood (USA) defeated 14.30 Taylor Knox (USA)
Semifinal heats
Heat 1 – 17.83 Joel Parkinson (AUS) defeated 16.47 Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 2 – 13.73 Damien Hobgood (USA) defeated 13.67 Dane Reynolds (USA)
Final
15.97 Joel Parkinson (AUS) defeated 11.94 Damien Hobgood (USA)
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