2009 Billabong Pro Mundaka – Parko out, Slater dominates

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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 … [Read more...]

2009 ASP World Tour rankings following Parko’s win in South Africa

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Australia’s Joel Parkinson does it once again, taking his third win of the year and proving to all that 2009 is his year. Now even more solidly in the lead, by some 1400 plus points, Parko’s widening the gap on his way to his very first world title. While Kelly Slater looked poised to strike coming off of his win in Brazil and taking the highest heat score of the day in his round 2 heat, he bowed out in to California’s Taylor Knox in round 3, unable to get any solid waves. On a positive … [Read more...]

Joel Parkinson takes his third win of the year at the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay

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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, … [Read more...]

Upsets abound in rounds 2 and 3 of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay

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Holy shit, bru! You see that?!? J Bay was absolutely on fire on Tuesday for the second day of the 2009 Billabong Pro. The boys logged a few perfect 10 rides, and many more in the excellent range. King Kelly Slater was on again at J Bay, turning out the highest heat score of the day with his 18.84 to 9.34 victory over Australia’s Nic Muscroft. Dominating the inside barrel section, Slater was virtually unstoppable, posting a 9.57 and a 9.27, and finishing his heat with an additional two throw-out … [Read more...]

Another WQS contest gets the axe

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It was bound to happen sooner or later, and now a major event has been canceled due to the state of the economy. The 6 Star Buondi Billabong Pro, which was to be held in Ericeira, Portugal from September 15th to 20th, has become the global recession’s latest victim. Sandwiched between a number of big point events and with negotiations on dates and sponsorship coming to a standstill, the decision was made to put the event on ice for 2009. This cancellation comes on the heels of the downgrading … [Read more...]

Lewis Samuels beats up on the top 45 following Teahupoo

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Though his Surfline.com license has been permanently suspended, Lewis Samuels continues to do what he does best, stir shit and take the piss out of the top 45 on his surf blog. While Surfline continues to run their own “Power Rankings”, Samuels presents the real deal with his keen observations and mostly over the top, yet always entertaining analysis of the surfers on the Dream Tour. Surfline has now resorted to using multiple writers to produce their new version of the rankings, yet they still … [Read more...]

Billabong Pro Teahupoo wraps up crowning Bobby Martinez

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The 2009 Billabong Pro Teahupoo wrapped up on Tuesday in Tahiti, running through the remaining heats of Round 3, through the finals. Bobby Martinez took his second win at Teahupoo in a high scoring American vs. Aussie final against Taj Burrow. The day started off with Bobby Martinez taking a convincing win over wildcard and three time World Champ, Andy Irons (HAW) in the first heat of the day. Adriano de Souza (BRA) won the following heat, taking a big win over Jordy Smith (ZAF). Next up was … [Read more...]

Billabong Pro Teahupoo – Parko out, Slater falls again but logs the year’s sickest turn

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After more lay days than this addict can take without going crazy, the Billabong Pro Teahupoo finally resumed competition on Monday. With a three foot swell in the water and waves expectedly on the rise, the decision was made to wrap up Round 2 and jump into Round 3. Let's jump to the day's highlights: Current tour frontrunner, Joel Parkinson (AUS) posted a convincing victory over local wildcard, Heiarii Williams (PYF) in Round 2, but was knocked out in the next round by Taylor Knox (USA), … [Read more...]

Billabong Pro Teahupoo – Round 1 is done – Dane Reynolds and other favorites are out

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The "Dream Tour" has jumped back into action this week at the Billabong Pro Teahupoo.  Six days into the event, the contest has managed to crawl through Round 1 and the first 6 heats of Round 2, before calling yet another lay day on Thursday. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers so far – The first heat of the event also proved the most lackluster with Timmy Reyes (USA) barely edging out Miky Picon (FRA) with a total heat score of 3.90 out of 20. Timmy was then edged out in Round 2 … [Read more...]

“Nothing better than sex and tube rides” -Mark Richards: XXL EVENT COVERAGE

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DailyStoke.com was invited to attend the Billabong XXL Big Wave awards - so my photographer and I scored some all access media passes to the ridiculous festivities surrounding the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards.  Freakin' sweetness.  If you ignored my recommendation to watch the webcast, here's the recap from a first person perspective. After fighting 2 hours of S.D. to O.C. Friday afternoon commuter traffic, we finally arrived at the Grove Theater in the shadow of Angel's Stadium.  Unfortunately … [Read more...]