Joel Parkinson downs Jeremy Flores to move into Billabong Pro Tahiti semi-finals
Australia’s Joel Parkinson barely edged past France’s Jeremy Flores in the final minutes of the third Quarter-final to secure the semi-final spot at Billabong Pro Tahiti, the fifth stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship
Tour, which continued at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Monday, August 27.
With the elite ASP surfers contending for top honours at one of the most exciting surfing locations in the world, the fans expected to get treated to a heavy dose of enthralling action. The conditions on hand during each active day of the event had allowed
them to get exactly what they had anticipated, giving surfers the ideal waves for putting their stylish surfing prowess on display as they competed for survival and move closer to the event title.
The latest day of the competition saw classic four-to-six foot waves breaking at Teahupo’o, thus once again setting up a nice stage for a series of exciting contest.
Parkinson, last year’s ASP World Runner-Up, had been on fire since the start of the competition. The 31-year-old Australian powerhouse had been establishing himself as one of the best backhand tube-riders in the world during the course of the event, something
that served to make him even more intimidating. The road to the final and the event title was undoubtedly a tough one, but he seemed more than prepared to jump over whatever obstacle came in his way to get his hands on the coveted victory.
Pitted against Parkinson in the third Quarter-final was Flores. The Frenchman had been exhibiting a solid form as well, adapting to the conditions on hand exceptionally well through the course of the event to eventually make it into the quarter-finals.
As the battle for the semi-final got underway, Flores got off to an excellent start, earning an 8.50 off his first business-wave to instantly put his rival under pressure. Adding an additional 7.93 points to his account, the Frenchman moved to a two-wave
total of 16.43 points.
Parkinson got off to a relatively slow start. However, he gradually built momentum to eventually collect a 6.73 off his first business-wave in the late stages of the heat. Still needing a big score to challenge his rival’s position, the Australian stepped
up to post a 9.77 on the score-board, thus moving to a winning heat-total of 16.50 points.
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