Joel Parkinson downs Josh Kerr to earn shot at the Oakley Pro Bali title – Surfing news
Australia’s Joel Parkinson got the better of his fellow countryperson Josh Kerr in the semi-final of the Oakley Pro Bali, stop no. 5 on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, to earn himself at place in the finals.
With solid four-to-six foot waves gracing the main event site of Keramas on Thursday, June 27, 2013, the stage was set for an exciting climax to what had been a thrilling event so far.
Parkinson, the reigning ASP World Champion, had not gotten off to the best of starts at the Oakley Pro Bali, but managed to bounce back strongly and from thereon, continued to land one great performance after another to eventually make it into the semi-finals.
Kerr had been exhibiting a deadly form at Keramas as well over the past week, adapting to the pumping barrels when it was needed and then switching back to his normal style of surfing when the size of waves fell a little. His consistency served to bring
him to the semi-finals, where he found himself facing the daunting task of holding his own against last year’s no. 1 surfer on the elite tour.
With the current season not going the way he had wanted to, it was no secret that Parkinson was determined to register a win at Bali.
He made this intent quite visible while locking horns with Kerr in the first semi-final for a place in the finals.
As the battle got underway, the 32-year-old Australian went through a series of average wave scores while hunting for a big score and eventually managed to get his hands on a 7.50-point ride.
Keeping the momentum going, Parkinson added an additional 6.93 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total of 14.43 points.
Kerr, on the other hand, did not get off to the best of starts and continued to struggle to find his rhythm throughout the course of the battle. Earning a 5.33 off his first business-wave, the Australian surfer found himself needed a massive score off his
second business-wave to have any chance of beating his rival.
However, he failed to lock another wave and eventually finished with a heat-total of 5.33 points. As a result, he found himself succumbing to his competitor.
Despite getting eliminated from the event after doing so well for the past week, Kerr was quite happy with the result that he collected at the Oakley Pro Bali.
“It would have been nice to go one better and make the Final, but a third place is a good result,” Kerr said. “This is my best result of the season and hopefully I can carry this momentum on to Tahiti and go one better there.”
The surfing action continued at Keramas with the remaining two heats of the latest stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour.
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