The battle for survival resumed at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Sunday, March 10, as the elite Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) surfers took each other on in the remaining heats of Round 2 and then continued the bout in Round
3 of Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, the first stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour.
Clean two-to-three foot waves graced the primary event site on the latest day of competition, offering plenty of opportunity for the surfing heavy-weights to flex their skills as they aimed for an early lead in the campaign for the coveted World Title.
Round 2 of the competition featured a few surprises, which included Australian sensation Owen Wright’s elimination at the hands of the lethal Hawaiian and also an event wildcard Dusty Payne. America’s Kolohe Andino was also forced to make a premature exit
from the contention for the event title as he failed to hold his own against Hawaii’s Sebastian Zietz. Another Australian, Kieren Perrow, was pushed out of the contention as he bowed out to Brazil’s Filipe Toledo.
The third round of the competition started off with a huge disappointment as Hawaii’s John John Florence was forced to pull out of the competition due to an injury sustained on Saturday. Australia’s Adam Melling advanced straight to the fourth round because
of this, though he would have hardly enjoyed getting his place in the next round in this manner.
Australia’s Taj Burrow downed Toledo in the third heat of Round 3 to make his way through into the next round as well.
Julian Wilson, another Australian sensation, got the better of Zietz in the fourth round, removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
Reigning World Champion Joel Parkinson took on Reynolds in the final heat of the day. The encounter was expected to be an electrifying one and that is exactly what was delivered to the fans of surfing.
Both the surfers pushed each other to the limit, though the Australian surfer eventually managed to finish on top of Reynolds, registering a heat-total of 16.04 points against his rival’s 14.77 points.
“That was pretty exciting,” Parkinson said. “Dane (Reynolds) is one of the best anywhere and yeah, I was nervous before the heat. It came down to waves and that one I got mid-heat was one of the better waves that came through this afternoon. It is a huge
confidence builder as he’s probably the most dangerous guy in the draw and he has nothing to lose. That said, I’m prepared for this season. I’m confident in my surfing and I’m just enjoying this first event.”
The sensational victory by Parkinson served to carry him through into the fourth round, bringing the competition to an early for Reynolds in the process.
The remaining Round 3 heats were left to be completed on the next competition day.
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