Joel Parkinson and Gabriel Medina make the quarter-final cut at Billabong Pro Tahiti
Australia’s Joel Parkinson and Brazil’s Gabriel Medina powered their way into the quarter-final stage at Billabong Pro Tahiti after claiming victory in their respective Round 4 heats that took place at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Sunday, August 26.
Parkinson put on a superb performance to barely edge past France’s Jeremy Flores and also get the better of America’s Damien Hobgood during the third heat, consequently heading straight into the quarter-finals while relegating both his rivals into the fifth
round.
The fourth heat saw Hawaii’s John John Florence and Australia’s Kieren Perrow finish behind Medina in second and third place respectively, which led to their relegation into the fifth round while allowing their Brazilian rival to jump into the quarter-finals.
Conditions continued to improve during the afternoon session at Teahupo’o, with the three-to-five foot waves offering much more juice for the elite ASP surfers to capitalise on during their hunt for a couple of big scores.
Squaring-off against Flores and Hobgood in the third heat, Parkinson showed-off a rampaging form to take out the heat despite the odds turning heavily against him at one point.
The 24-year-old Flores had opened his account with an outstanding no-hands back-hand barrel, earning a perfect 10 for the effort to take an early lead. He soon backed it up with a 7.77-point ride, thus moving to a heat-total of 17.77 points.
Hobgood put on a pretty busy performance as well and eventually managed to reach a two-wave total of 14.47 points, which comprised of a 7.00 and 7.47-point ride.
The 31-year-old Parkinson did not get off to the best of starts, but really stepped-up under pressure during the final minutes of the heat to take the win. The Australian powerhouse scored a much-needed 9.13 off his first business-wave in the dying minutes
of the heat and immediately backed it up with a 9.10-point wave just in time to finish with a heat-total of 18.23 points, beating Flores by a mere 0.46 points to clinch the quarter-final spot.
“That was a really good heat to be in,” Parkinson said after the heat. “It was gentlemen’s rules and plenty of waves. It was probably the best three-man heat I’ve ever surfed out there. It was just so enjoyable and that’s why I surf and compete. Really happy
right now.”
The fourth heat saw the young Brazilian powerhouse Medina really shine as he took on Florence and Perrow in a three-man battle for the quarter-final spot.
Opening his account with an impressive 7.83-point ride, Medina posted a perfect 10 on the score-board to finish with a heat-total of 17.83 points. The score held up until the end to see him through to victory.
Florence and Perrow seemed a bit out of rhythm during their latest heat, managing to reach a heat-total of merely 7.00 and 3.23 points respectively, which resulted in their relegation to Round 5.
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