Joel Parkinson and Josh Kerr triumphant in Round 4 of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
The latest stop of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, continued with the third and fourth heat of no-elimination Round 4 on Saturday, July 23, at the coastline of Jeffreys Bay in South Africa.
Australia’s Joel Parkinson came up with an exceptional performance to prevail over compatriots, Adam Melling and Mick Fanning, to move directly into the quarter-finals. Melling finished in runner-up place while Fanning rounded out the third position to find
get relegated to Round 5.
The fourth heat saw Australia’s Josh Kerr walk away with top honours to secure a quarter-final spot. French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez finished second while Brazil’s Alejo Muniz took third. Both the surfers headed to the fifth round to compete in a sudden-death
battle for a place in the quarter-final.
With the former two-time ASP World Champion Fanning in the heat, there was hardly anyone who expected the heat to become a man-on-man battle between Parkinson and Melling, with Fanning being more of a spectator than a competitor.
As the heat kicked off, the 26-year-old Melling got off to a great start by catching a wave to earn an amazing 8.93 off it. However, Parkinson came up with an excellent response. Locking a wave to throw down a set of quick flips and turns, the 30-year-old
collected a near-perfect score of 9.70.
In the final minutes of the heat, Parkinson added an additional 6.87 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 16.57 points. Melling required a 7.64 off his second business-wave to edge past his rival, but failed to get the required score and ended
up finishing with a heat-total of 16.43 after earning 7.50 points off his second wave.
The 30-year-old Fanning remained overshadowed by the ongoing battle between his two rivals. He only managed to collect a 6.77 and 4.50 off his two best waves.
The final heat of Round 4 pitted Kerr against Bourez and Muniz in a battle for the quarter-final spot. All three surfers had shown good form in Round 3 and it was difficult to tell which of them would manage to clinch top honours in the current showdown.
As the heat kicked off, it seemed that it would be either the French Polynesian or the Brazilian who would be going through to the quarter-finals. Kerr was failing to make any impact whatsoever, while Bourez and Muniz remained occupied in collecting decent
scores.
Almost mid-way through the heat, Bourez collected a 6.83-point wave and soon added another 7.50 points to his account to move to a two-wave total of 14.33 points. Muniz, who had managed to oust his compatriot and current leader on the ASP World Title rankings,
Adriano de Souza, from the competition, trailed behind with a 6.50 and 6.87-point wave.
While hardly noticeable for most of the heat, the 27-year-old Kerr made his presence felt in the final minutes. A string of big turns and airs off a couple of waves earned him 7.50 and 8.90 from the judges, carrying him to a heat-total of 16.40 points and
sealing the fate of the contest in his favour.
“I was killing myself trying to play it safe and do a bunch of turns through to the end,” Kerr said during his post-heat interview. “I wasn’t getting big scores and I just started trying to do big turns and airs and stick to my strengths. I’m stoked to have
pulled a couple in the heat and looking forward to tomorrow’s Quarter-finals.”
The fourth round wrapped up with the conclusion of the fourth heat. The conditions prevailing at the event site were still pretty good, allowing the event organisers to get the fifth round underway.
For updates on Round 5 of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, stay tuned to bettor.com
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