Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Parko Brings It Home



On the 14th day of the Quicksilver Pro 2009, Joel Parkinson leans heavily on his local knowledge to navigate his way to victory.

For the second day in a row, the contest was held at Coolangatta Beach, in pumping 6' top-to-bottom conditions.

I even heard Jake Paterson make comparisons to a certain beach break on the North Shore. Not sure if I'd go that far, but there were definitely Escondido like bombs dropping for the semi-final and final rounds.

The first heat of the semi's between local boys Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson was as thrilling as the 60km wind gusts that cyclone Hamish was punishing the crowd with.

There's no doubt that Fanning wanted this win badly. I saw him out at Kirra for a pre-dawn session before his heat, getting acclimated to the unpredictable conditions. He was casual and smiling, pulling into a couple of inside closeout bombs.

With the Red Bull Jet Ski team ready to scoop them from danger, both Parko and Fanning were able to catch over 10 waves, setting the stage for an action packed heat.

Fanning started where he left off yesterday, getting shacked. His highest scoring wave came 25 minutes into the heat.

He took off late on a mean looking slab, power carved a bottom turn before setting trim for a gaping barrel. Arms raised with stoke, he got spat out the back and claimed a 9.43 for his efforts.

“Cyclone Hamish turned it on for us,” Fanning said. “It’s one of those days where you can have one of the best surfs of your life or one of the worst surfs of your life. It wasn’t the best surf of my life, but it was definitely up there.”

He followed this up with an 8.23 on a dirtier version of the previous wave. With less than 5 minutes left, Parko needed 9.99 out of 10 to win. So what did he do?

Pulls into a 5 second hell pit to claim a 10 point score, advancing into the finals with style.

“I didn’t see Joel’s 9.90 but I saw his 10,” Fanning said. “When his head popped out, I knew. I said to myself I would give that a 10. Congratulations to him, he surfed an awesome heat.”

Heat #2 of the semi-finals forced Taj Burrow and Adrian de Souza to fight off pelting rain and raging wind gusts, to find a wave in the chaotic lineup.

It was a slow heat, and with the relentless rain all the crowd could do was listen for updates from the Tower. Mother nature wasn’t on Taj’s side. He struggled for 40 minutes to catch anything that resembled a wave, resulting in a 3.67 as his highest scoring wave.

De Souza was able to find some hidden gems and easily discarded Burrows, advancing into the final round against Joel Parkinson.

“I felt really lost at sea,” Burrow said. “It was a total lucky dip, then the wind squall came through and it got even more wild and washed out. Every time a wave came that looked any good, Adriano [de Souza] was sitting next to me with priority. I was just really unlucky. Last time I surfed here, I got a perfect 10 as a wildcard, so I have good memories of Kirra. I would have loved a 10 at the end of that heat. I’m just looking forward to the next event now.”

After a 30-minute break, the clouds began to part as the horn sounded signaling the start of the final heat.

I was posted in a warm crook on the groin, below the long-lens shooters, and next to Parkinson’s wife and family. Nervous and excited at the same time, they were well behind Parkinson.

Joel came out on fire, and had De Souza combo'd needing a combined 16.34 after nine minutes into the heat.

De Souza didn’t give in. Fighting like a champion in his first ever final in a WCT event, he clawed out of his combo position, but needing a perfect 10 to overtake Parkinson.

The dagger through the heart was Parkinson’s second 10-point ride in as many heats. Air dropping into a hefty slab, and driving for 4 seconds, Parko made tube riding look easy.

"I was thinking it has been a long time between drinks,” Parkinson said. “Until the hooter blew, I didn’t know what emotion to feel. It's the kind of thing where you're surrounded by a lot of people and it's not until you pull yourself back and you're together with family and friends, that's really when you feel all of your emotions. Right now I'm on a high and I'm buzzing, it will be a few hours to let it all sink in."

Joel Parkinson returns to the winner’s podium and moves into first place in the WCT ratings race.

After the win his wife was ecstatic, saying, “Anything can happen out there.  I wasn’t actually that nervous because I had faith in his abilities, he’s got it all, he knows what he is doing out there.”

Watch for Mick and Joel to battle it out all year on the WC T.

1 comment:

  1. Go Parko!
    Hey Brother Chris... Forget Hamish - when are you coming to Bells for the 50 year storm? Easter I guess. There's room at my place or you can set your tent up in the garden with the dogs.
    Have you got a mobile?
    The other Joel

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