Joel Parkinson and Josh Kerr prevail in Round 3 at Oakley Pro Bali – Surfing news
Australia’s Joel Parkinson and his fellow countryperson Josh Kerr made it through into the fourth round of the Oakley Pro Bali, the latest stop on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after emerging triumphant in their
respective Round 3 heats that went down at Keramas in Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday, June 25, 2013.
Parkinson got the better of America’s Damien Hobgood in the third heat, whereas Kerr finished on top of Brazil’s Filipe Toledo in heat 4 to go through into the next round, removing their rivals from the competition in the process.
The barrelling six-to-eight foot waves breaking at the main event site created an ideal stage for the world’s top surfing talent to battle it out for survival.
Parkinson, reigning ASP World Champion, had stumbled in his Round 1 heat and was consequently forced to take the long way to Round 3.
Competing against Hobgood in a one-on-one battle for the Round 4 spot, the Australian surfer proved to be in a prime form.
Displaying his superb barrel-riding skills, Parkinson posted a 9.43 on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of the heat. He went on to add an additional 9.17 points to his account to get to a heat-total of 18.60 points.
Hobgood had no intention of letting his rival walk away with an easy win and put on a commendable fight. Scoring a 9.93 and 8.33 off his best-two waves, the American surfer finished with a heat-total of 18.26 points, just 0.34 points short of the required
score.
“That was really really fun,” Parkinson said. “We had non-stop waves for the heat and were just going back-and-forth on exchanges. I’ve been coming to Keramas for years and it’s one of my favorite waves in the world. The conditions this morning were absolutely
incredible – sheet glass and big barrels. You can’t really ask for much more.”
The fourth heat turned out to be a pretty one-sided affair, with Kerr collecting a comfortable win over Toledo to advance to the next round.
The Australian surfer collected a couple of scores in the eight-point range to register a heat-total of 16.70 points.
Toledo struggled to find his rhythm throughout the course of the heat and only managed to get to a heat-total of 6.77 points after scoring a 4.10 and 2.67 off his best-two waves. As a result, he found himself eliminated from the competition.
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