CJ Hobgood and Joel Parkinson go through to Round 4 at Billabong Pipe Masters
America’s CJ Hobgood and Australia’s Joel Parkinson successfully secured their place in the fourth round at the Billabong Pipe Masters after walking away with top honours from their respective Round 3 heats that went down at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu,
Hawaii, on Sunday, December 9, 2012.
Hobgood got the better of South Africa’s Jordy Smith in the fifth heat to make the Round 4 cut, bringing the competition to an early end for his rival in the process.
The sixth heat saw the impressive run of Hawaii’s Kalani Chapman finally come to an end as he failed to hold his own against Parkinson, getting eliminated as a result while sending the latter through into the next round.
Billabong Pipe Masters has a lot of hype surrounding it since it is the final and decisive stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, as well as the third and final jewel on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, with
the fate of the latter getting decided following the Round 2 heats.
The pursuit of the elite ASP World Title and coveted ASP ranking points, however, was still very much on.
Hobgood took on Jordy in the fifth heat of Round 3, looking to extend his life in the competition.
The battle turned out to be quite intense, with both surfers struggling to get their hands on big scores.
The American surfer, however, eventually managed to get to a heat-total of 11.60 points with the help of a 6.17 and 5.43-point ride.
Smith failed to respond with an adequate score, managing to get to a two-wave total of 8.87 points only after scoring a 5.37 and 3.50 off his best-two waves. As a result, he was forced to surrender the Round 4 spot to his rival.
The next heat saw Parkinson, frontrunner for this year’s ASP World Title, taking on the wildcard Chapman, who had managed to do something impressive things during the previous two rounds.
Chapman put on yet another impressive performance, collecting a 7.03 and 6.47 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 13.50.
However, his efforts turned out to be no match for Parkinson, the man who has been on fire since the start of the season.
Scoring a 9.00 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 7.17-point wave, the Australian surfer finished with a heat-total of 16.17 points, thus walking away with a comprehensive victory.
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