Joel Parkinson downs Josh Kerr to secure Rip Curl Pro Search Semi-Finals spot – 2011 ASP World Tour
The 10th of the 11 stops on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco, continued to treat the crowd to a heavy dose of thrilling action as the fourth Quarter-Final pitted Australia’s Joel Parkinson
against his compatriot Josh Kerr at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, America, on Monday afternoon, November 7.
Even though the contest for top honours was expected to be an epic affair, it turned out to be pretty one-sided with Parkinson completely stealing the show through his outstanding performance and advancing through into the Semi-Finals, consequently eliminating
his opponent, Kerr, from the competition.
The 30-year-old Parkinson has been simply sensation during the current season of the ASP World Tour. Regardless of the location and surfing conditions, the seasoned Australian surfer came up with outstanding performances to give his opponents, which included
the best surfers from all around the world, a run for their money. A victory at Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach early in the season had given him all the confidence that he needed to build momentum. As he made his way to San Francisco for Rip Curl Pro Search, Parkinson
was determined to collect yet another good result to stay in the Top-5 on the ASP World Title rankings.
Facing Parkinson in the fourth Quarter-Final was Kerr, another formidable Australian surfer. His style and skills has earned him a great deal of spotlight in the past few months and he was expected to put up a really exciting show for the crowd at Rip Curl
Pro Search.
With high-performance three-to-four foot waves and strong off-shore winds on offer, the fourth Quarter-Final got under-way. Parkinson wasted no time in making a charge and locked a wave to earn 7.83 points off it. However, Kerr was more than prepared for
the challenge and caught a real juicy wave to pull off a string of exquisite manoeuvres for a 9.50.
As the heat progressed, Kerr struggled to find another good score and only managed to increase his two-wave total by 1.43 points, taking his heat-total to 10.93 points. With the window of opportunity wide open, Parkinson only needed to make a very modest
effort to seal the fate of the battle. However, he decided to finish the heat with some fireworks and locked his final wave to give it his all. The effort earned him an 8.93 and moved him to a decisive heat-total of 16.76 points. The score carried him off
to victory and sent him through into the Semi-Finals.
For updates on the Rip Curl Pro Search Semi-Finals, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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