The 2009 Billabong Pro Mundaka finally went live again on Monday. After a truncated start way back on the 5th of October, where the event only ran through the first eight heats of round 1, the nod was finally given to resume the event during what appears to be one of the best of the remaining days in the event window. Roughly translated – Mundaka isn’t really putting out, but the boys decided to give her a go anyways.
The biggest news on Monday was Joel Parkinson’s early exit. Parko took home his third consecutive 17th place finish when he bowed out to fellow countryman, Drew (who?) Courtney. Joel failed to find his rhythm in the less than perfect conditions, while Drew pulled no punches and ousted the current tour leader. Joel has to be reeling from this early loss after a season start that had everyone already crowning him as the 2009 champion. The poor finish doesn’t put him out of the running for title contention, but it certainly is going to make things more difficult for him and interesting for everyone else.
Kelly Slater posted the highest score of the event on Monday, with a 17.84 out of 20 in his heat against Jihad Khodr. While I hate giving Jihad any credit whatsoever, he definitely deserves a nod of the head for keeping the 9 time world champ on the ropes for the entire heat. Jihad finished with a 15.30 out of 20, bowing out with the third highest heat total of the day and the fourth highest heat total of the event. If he came up against anyone other than Slater or Bobby Martinez, his score would have put him in contention for another 9th. Pretty impressive, considering that after a promising 9th on the Gold Coast, he’s placed 33rd in the five consecutive events before Mundaka.
Another big win went to rookie of the year contender, Kekoa Bacalso, who ripped the bag out of every wave on offer to take out Dane Reynolds, who couldn’t seem to find the glue that binds his normally watertight aerial repertoire. Bobby Martinez destroyed fellow Californian, Chris Ward in their round 2 heat, propelling Bobby closer to another Mundaka victory, and pushing the prospect of 2010 requalification further away for Wardo. Kai Otton was my favorite wrong-footer of the day, doing his best Rob Machado impression and effortlessly tearing the crap out of the long lefts on offer. Damien Hobgood took home the only other “real” surprise elimination of the day, when he was edged out by Chris Davidson.
With the remaining wave window looking pretty meager, event coordinators are hoping to wrap up the event at Mundaka on Tuesday. There are a number of exciting matchups, with one of the biggest going to Kelly Slater, who will be facing off against the guy who shut him down in Mundaka in 2008, Tom Whitaker. Tune in to the event website for photos, videos on demand, heat sheets and all the live action.
Related posts:
- 2009 Hurley Pro at Trestles – Slater dominates, Parko exits
- Billabong Pro Teahupoo – Parko out, Slater falls again but logs the year’s sickest turn
- ASP World Tour – Mundaka to Brazil – the race for number 2
- Joel Parkinson takes his third win of the year at the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
- Mundaka Billabong Pro using Dual Heat Format Today
