Joel Parkinson defeats Raoni Monteiro and Brett Simpson in Round 1 of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
The first day of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, the fourth of eleven stops on 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, wrapped up with the 12th heat of Round one on Friday, July 15, at the coastline of Jeffreys Bay in South Africa.
Australia’s Joel Parkinson defeated Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro and America’s Brett Simpson in the three-man battle, to make a direct jump into Round 3. Monteiro finished in second place, while Brett Simpson rounded out the third position. Both the surfers were
relegated to Round 2, a sudden-death round with no room for error.
While the waves gracing the event site were around three-to-four foot in size, their low frequency was an issue for the surfers. To make the heat even tougher, there were three surfers competing for the good wave instead of just two. The surfers had no choice
but to wait patiently and rely on their luck for a good wave.
Despite such tough challenges awaiting the surfers, the 30-year-old Parkinson managed to adjust to the conditions and came up with an impressive performance that separated him from the rest of the field in the 12th heat.
Early in the battle, Parkinson locked a wave to throw down a combination of impressive manoeuvres and earn 6.33 points for the effort, consequently moving into lead on the scoreboard. He soon added an identical score of 6.33 to his account which took him
to a heat-total of 12.66 points. The two sixes turned out to be decisive eventually and allowed him to clinch top honours in the heat.
Monteiro, who was making a comeback to the elite ASP World Tour after a hiatus of three years, did not give the best of performances during his battle against his Australian rival, Parkinson. The 29-year-old Brazilian collected a 5.00 off a wave early in
the heat, but was unable to find another good score even though he caught a number of waves. The most he could earn after his first best score was a 3.87, which took him to a heat-total of 8.87 points and placed him in second place.
There was nothing for the Americans to cheer about during the heat, as the Californian surfer Simpson remained the most unimpressive of the lot. He collected 4.00 points off his first business-wave and 3.60 off the second to finish with a heat-total of 7.60
points and end up in third place.
With the conclusion of the 12th heat, the first round as well as first day of the current ASP World Tour event wrapped up. The next day of the event was to kick off with Round 2, or more appropriately referred to as the sudden-death round.
For updates on Round 2 of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, stay tuned to bettor.com
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