Brett Simpson and Joel Parkinson survive Round 3 of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach – Surfing News
America’s Brett Simpson and Australia’s Joel Parkinson took top honours in their respective Round 3 heats of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, the latest stop of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series, which continued at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on Thursday, April 5.
The 11th heat saw Simpson get the better of his fellow compatriot Damien Hobgood to advance through into the fourth round while removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
Parkinson, the defending event champion, brought the competition to a premature end for Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia in the 12th heat while making a place for himself in the fourth round.
The third day of the latest ASP elite tour kept delivering a heavy dose of enthralling surfing action to the fans as they got to witness the best surfers from around the globe take each other on in man-on-man battles for survival.
Pitted against Hobgood in the 11th heat, Simpson put on an impressive performance to steal the show. He locked his first business-wave early in the heat to post a 7.67 on the score-board and went on to add an additional 7.87 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 15.54 points.
Hobgood failed to come up with an adequate response, scoring a 5.83 and 6.70 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 12.53 points. As a result, he was forced to concede victory to his rival.
The 12th heat saw the 30-year-old Parkinson emerge as the most dominant surfer of the day by putting on a superb performance to down Patacchia.
The Australian surfer’s electric performance enabled him to post a 9.07 on the score-board off his first business-wave and went on to add a 9.87 to his account, finishing with a resultant heat-total of 18.94 points. The score held up until the end to see him through into the next round.
“I had a blast,” Parkinson said. “I wish that heat went for an hour. Freddy [Patacchia] was saying it was the best Bells he’s ever surfed in a heat. I’ve had it a lot better, but it was solid and pumping and I had so much fun.”
Patacchia was nothing short of impressive during the course of the heat either, collecting a couple of scores in the eight-point range to finish with a heat-total of 17.37 points. Despite his amazing performance, he was forced to step out of the competition field after failing to clinch the win in the elimination round.
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