April 24, 2011

“I definitely feel like I’m back.” Parko wins the luckiest Rip Curl Pro ever.

Call it karma or call it luck, but the 50th anniversary of Bells was blessed. Generally speaking, the later into April that Easter falls the better the waves are, but nobody could have dared hope for the sort of consistent surf we’ve seen this week. That the contest finished on Easter Sunday in front of record crowds – who often turn up on this day to see Bells doing an impression of a choppy Port Phillip Bay – is some mighty tasty icing on the cake.

Good waves for Bells is always a win for pro surfing – mainstream media doesn’t devote half the coverage to other surf contests that they do to Bells, so to have the eyes of the whole country trained on the beach, and to have it deliver, was more than a blessing. So the ASP got lucky, Rip Curl got lucky, and Joel Parkinson didn’t need any of it to smash all comers to take home his third Rip Curl Pro bell.

The 30 year old Gold Coaster beat his good mate Mick Fanning in solid overheat surf in the final, with both blokes having to surf twice earlier in the day to get there.

Leaving little to chance in the highly-anticipated Final, Parkinson opened up with an 8.53 on the first ride of the heat and drove the nail into the coffin with a Perfect 10. “I think we both had the same game plan of getting the first good one that came through and putting the momentum behind us. We scrapped for that first wave and I got the nod. Even though it was a mid-8, I knew I needed a lot more to hold him off so I just kept the pressure on from there,” Parko said.

“It’s not so much the fact that I’ve won the event, but more so that it’s the 50th anniversary. It feels that much more special. We’ve had such good waves too. I can’t remember the last time that Bells had such good waves. I’m so excited. I can’t believe this.”

In 2009, Parko was widely tipped to go all the way for a long overdue title, but a mid-season injuy saw him sit out a few crucial events as Mick Fanning gained momentum through the second half of the year and capitalise on it for his second world title. Last year was also marred by injury for Parko, so hopefully this finish, moving him to 2nd on the World Title rankings, will be the start of a roll for the bloke known as one of the smoothest stylists ever.

“I definitely feel like I’m back,” he said. “I feel like I’m surfing better than I was back in ’09 before I hurt my ankle. I’m feeling fit, I have some really good boards under my feet and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”

Fanning, who last rung the bell as a wildcard in 2001, was the in-form surfer of the event, consistently notching the highest single-wave scores and heat totals from Round 1 onwards.

“It was a tough Final,” Fanning said. “For some reason everytime we have a heat he gets in sync real early. I tried to fight back but it was too little too late. Surfing against your mate is just like surfing against anyone else you’ve just got to go out and think about yourself and catching waves and getting scores. To have a mate beat me makes it a bit easier to swallow, but I’m still fired up for the rest of the year.”

Fanning moves from 13th to 6th on the ASP World Title Rankings.

Today’s Final ran in front of a capacity crowd at Bells Beach, maxing out as early as 11am with cars lined back to the center of Torquay, and the elite ASP Top 34 delivered in sensational fashion.

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 24, 2010 ASP World Runner-Up, cruised through to the Semifinals of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach despite admittedly feeling out of rhythm throughout the event.

“It was a nice last wave, but it was a pity I didn’t get any before that,” Smith said. “I’ve felt off all week so to get a 3rd is pretty good. I’ve got two 3rds now, which is kind of frustrating because you want to make the Final, but that’s how it goes sometimes. 3rd is better than 5th.”

Smith further cements his position at ASP World No. 3.

Adriano de Souza (BRA), 24, flew the South American flag high through the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, scalping a number of high-profile competitors before falling to Parkinson in the Semifinal.

“I found my rhythm in the heat against Kelly (Slater),” De Souza said. “But against Joel (Parkinson) I couldn’t find any waves. I’m so frustrated because I wanted to ring the Bell, but I’m really happy with my result. Kelly is my hero, 10 x ASP World Champ, he just didn’t get any waves, then it happened to me in the next round. It happens to everyone. Next up is my home event in Brazil, I hope Brazil is proud of me and Jadson (Andre) for doing well at this event.”

De Souza goes from 9th to 4th on the ASP World Title Rankings.

Kelly Slater (USA), 39, reigning 10-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 1, suffered a surprise elimination at the hands of De Souza in this morning’s Quarterfinal clash. The young Brazilian left little room for the Champ to respond and an admittedly out-of-rhythm Slater saw his Bells Beach title defense cut abruptly short.

“It’s not my day, not my week and that happens,” Slater said. “For some reason you don’t make the right choices and you’re not in sync with it, I’m definitely not in the zone this week at all. Every heat of mine has had slow surf and then when there were, waves I was on the wrong ones. It’s the way it goes, you win some you lose some.”

Slater’s Equal 5th at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach sees the American holding the lead in the race for the 2011 ASP World Title heading into the next stop in Brazil.

“We’re two events in and I’ve got a 1st and a 5th so I’m averaging about a 3rd, you want to be there and higher,” Slater said. “These kind of waves favor the best guys, the guys you’re going to expect to be at the top at the end of the year and all those guys are still in the event. A 5th isn’t that bad a result, but when all the guys who you expect to be in the world title hunt finish higher than you it feels like a 17th.”

Highlights from the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by FORD will be available via www.live.ripcurl.com

The next stop on the 2011 ASP World Title season is the Billabong Pro Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from May 11 – 22, 2011.

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH FINAL RESULTS:

1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.53
2 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.26

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1:
Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.33 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.00
SF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.87 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.23

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1:
Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.66 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 13.16
QF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 18.00 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 11.24
QF 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.16 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 11.10
QF 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.46 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.03

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1:
Owen Wright (AUS) 14.17 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 9.26
Heat 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.97 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.66
Heat 3: Chris Davidson (AUS) 16.03 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.37
Heat 4: Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.37 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.93

ASP WORLD TITLE RATINGS (After Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach):
1.
Kelly Slater (USA) 15,200 pts
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14,000 pts
3. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13,000 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10,500 pts
4. Tiago Pires (PRT) 10,500 pts

by POP Magazine