Joel Parkinson survives an intense Round 4 battle at Hurley Pro – 2011 ASP World Tour
Continuing the intense surfing action for the third consecutive day, the fourth heat of Hurley Pro’s Round 4 went down at the iconic point-break of Lower Trestles in California, America, on Tuesday, September 20.
The three-man battle came to an exciting finish with Australia’s Joel Parkinson taking an excellent come-from-behind win in the dying minutes to secure his place in the quarter-finals. His compatriot, Julian Wilson and Mick Fanning, rounded out the second
and third positions respectively, getting relegated from Round 4 as a result.
The 30-year-old Parkinson was proving to be a formidable force in the current season of the elite tour so far. After winning the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach earlier this year, the Australian continued to perform consistently in the following events and eventually
climbed up to Number Three spot on the ASP World Title Rankings.
After a series of good results at Hurley Pro, Parkinson made his way confidently into the fourth round to take a shot at the quarter-final place. However, he had to engage the progressive and extremely promising young talent, Wilson, along with former two-time
ASP World Champion, Fanning, in a three-man battle to get his hands on the quarter-final spot.
As the heat kicked-off, Parkinson got-off to a blazing start, locking a wave to pull out an impressive trick from his arsenal and collecting 8.93 points for the effort. He continued to look impressive throughout the heat, but was suddenly placed under immense
pressure due to a late charge by Wilson, who locked a couple of waves to score 7.97 and a near-perfect 9.80 points off them to reach a heat-total of 17.77 points.
In the dying minutes of the heat, Parkinson managed to rise up to the challenge quite superbly by catching a wave to earn 9.13 points off it and getting past his rival on the scoreboard with a heat-total of 18.06 points to take the win.
Commenting on the heat and the decisive wave that appeared in the last few minutes, Parkinson said, “Julian’s wave was sick. I don’t know what to say about it though, I’m a purist. That wave of mine was a long wave, my legs were burning at the end. Me and
Julian were hassling and I thought ‘I don’t care if I get an interference or not, I’m losing anyway.’ Mick got that wave before it too, that was a great heat.”
Fanning struggled to adjust to surfing conditions and had little luck with catching waves. He eventually finished in third place with a heat-total of 15.50 points, which included a 7.33 and 8.17-point wave.
Wilson and Fanning still have a chance of getting through to the quarter-finals, though that depends entirely on their Round 5 result.
For updates on Round 5 of Hurley Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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