Pro Surfing and Contests
Rip Curl Pro Search Portugal - Fanning takes another, blah, blah, blah…
The Rip Curl Pro Search Portugal wrapped up on Tuesday at the world famous Supertubes, and we all know how it ended. Mick won the event in steadily degrading conditions (especially considering the epic, mega barrels of the previous day), topping a charging Bede Durbidge, and officially turning the title race into a two-man show - Fanning vs. Parkinson. Now let’s take a look at how we got there and what it all means.
For starters, lets consider the other potential title hopefuls as of the start of round three:
CJ Hobgood ingloriously bowed out of the world title race to a charging Jordy Smith.
Bobby Martinez aced Drew Courtney, then was squashed in return by Joel Parkinson in the quarters.
Joel Parkinson edged out Kai Otton by ten-hundreths of a point to win his berth in the quarters, where he comboed Bobby Martinez, and then was taken out by a surging Bede Durbidge in the semis.
Bede Durbidge easily topped Tom Whitaker in round 3, before barely edging out Jordy Smith in the quarters and squeeking past Joel Parkinson in the semis.
Taj Burrow was knocked out of the running by Damien Hobgood in round 3, who lost out to a handicapped Owen Wright in the quarterfinals.
Adriano de Souza was put down by Tim Reyes in round 3, who went on to be obliterated by Mick Fanning in the quarters.
Mick Fanning smothered Fred Patacchia by a ten point margin in the third round, crushed Timmy Reyes in the quarters, but then got a free ride from the quarters to the finals when the injured Owen Wright had to bow out of the event at the request of the tour physicians. There’s no doubt that he was on fire, but a win with a free pass through one of the most difficult heats makes his win kind of anticlimactic.
Owen Wright came in as a dream destroying wildcard, acing Kelly Slater in an insanely intense round two match up; knocking out Dane Reynolds in a high scoring, high flying and crowd pleasing round three heat; and crushing Damien Hobgood’s fleeting title dreams in the quarters, despite the fact that he had to bow out before the end of the heat with an as of yet to be determined ear impact injury.
So here we are heading into Hawaii with only two guys statistically capable of taking a crown. Will it be Mick or will it be Joel? Log your choice and cast your voodoo now. I’m pulling for Parko.
Related Posts
Discussion
One comment for “Rip Curl Pro Search Portugal - Fanning takes another, blah, blah, blah…”
Post a comment
Surf Central
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better.
Daily Email from DailyStoke
Get DailyStoke right to your email once a day - Sign up here to stay stoked!
// Home // About // Subscribe // Editorial Policy // Advertise to Surfers // Surf Archives // Legal // Sitemap
mick’s gonna take it, boring or not!!