![](\"http:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/uploads\/76ad5562-ae3b-de47.jpg\")
\nPictured: Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, has won the 2009 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, his third ASP World Tour event victory this season alone, solidifying his position as frontrunner in the race for the 2009 ASP World Title.<\/p>\n
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
\nStop No. 5 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour
\nJeffreys Bay, South Africa
\nJuly 9 – 19, 2009<\/p>\n
Parkinson Claims Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, Solidifies ASP Ratings Lead<\/p>\n
\nPictured: Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, has won the 2009 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, his third ASP World Tour event victory this season alone, solidifying his position as frontrunner in the race for the 2009 ASP World Title.<\/p>\n
Credit: \u00a9 ASP\/ CI\/ CESTARI via GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
JEFFREYS BAY, South Africa (Wednesday, July 15, 2009) \u2013 Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, has claimed the 2009 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay in clean three-to-five foot (1 \u2013 1.5 metre) surf over Damien Hobgood (USA), 30, strengthening his stranglehold on the ASP World Tour ratings lead.<\/p>\n
Stop No. 5 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay will go down as one of the finest in history, with the two final days of competition enjoying pumping surf and amazing performances, culminating in today\u2019s exciting finale.<\/p>\n
Parkinson wasted no time in the 40-minute Final, smashing an excellent 9.47 out of a possible 10 on his opening wave. The wave exhibited the Australian\u2019s unparalleled mastery of the Jeffreys Bay lineup, a symphony of beautiful forehand arcs and committed barrel riding, taking off from \u201cBoneyards\u201d section at the top of the point and riding well over 200 metres to the eruption of crowds on the beach.\u201cI knew the waves were dying down towards the end of the day and it was going to be important to get on the board early in Final,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cI\u2019ve been sitting up the point at Boneyards for most of the event and trying to find the ones that would run all the way down the point \u2013 that one was no different. As I stood up I had a really nice line on it and I tried to make the most of it. Turned out to be a crucial part of the heat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s win comes 10 years after Parkinson\u2019s inaugural victory at the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, last ascending the winner\u2019s dais in 1999 when he competed as a wildcard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWow \u2013 10 years seems to go by really fast,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed coming here every year since that first one, and it\u2019s been a pretty incredible trip since then. To bring it together 10 years down the track, it\u2019s a pretty special feeling and all I can say is that it\u2019s a fantastic event and I\u2019ll be coming here as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the competition, time-and-again, Parkinson proved to be the form surfer, collecting two Perfect 10s (Round 3, Semifinals) as well as several 9-point plus rides as he deftly advanced through five heats of battle. This victory marks the phenomenal natural-footer\u2019s third ASP Dream Tour win this year alone, strengthening his position as frontrunner in the race for the ASP World Title.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conditions for this event were just unbelievable and the surfing speaks for itself,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cThe past two days are a bit of a blur \u2013 so many massive scores and barrels from everyone. In terms of the world title, I do my best not to think about it. In the past, I\u2019ve done my head in by wondering how many points behind or ahead of someone I am, and this season, I\u2019ve just focused on the task at hand. I\u2019ve had a good start, but it\u2019s a long year and a lot can happen. I\u2019m looking forward to heading home to see my family and training hard for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Hobgood, inconsistency plagued the back half of his Final clash with Parkinson, and the Floridian was unable to find a rhythm in the challenging conditions. However, today\u2019s Runner-Up finish marks second career result at the venue for Hobgood (the other to Slater in 2003), an impressive feat for a goofy-footer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to come here every year,\u201d Hobgood said. \u201cThe place is magical and it\u2019s just so beautiful. It\u2019s easy to get distracted by how beautiful it looks when waves are coming down the point. Joel (Parkinson) opened up with that really good wave and at that point, the only thing I could do was pray for an 8-footer to come through. It\u2019s not an easy wave for goofy-footer\u2019s to excel at, but I feel really fortunate to finish in the Final. It\u2019s a great result for me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hobgood\u2019s route to the Final was no easy feat, navigating through a bevy of in-form surfers: Bede Durbidge (AUS), 26, in Round 3, Taylor Knox (USA), 38, in the Quarterfinals, and Dane Reynolds (USA), 23, in the Semifinals. Today\u2019s result bolts Hobgood from 10th to 5th on the ASP World Tour ratings, putting him in excellent position to contest the back half of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is definitely my best result of the year and moving up to 5th puts me in good position for the back half of the season,\u201d Hobgood said. \u201cI opened up with a pretty good result on the Goldy before having some average outings in the last three. Today\u2019s finish definitely gives me a lot of confidence heading into the next few events, and I\u2019m looking forward to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dane Reynolds (USA), 2008 ASP World Tour Rookie of the Year, lost a wave-starved Semifinal to eventual Runner-Up Hobgood, but impressively stamped his authority on today\u2019s proceedings, besting 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie Michel Bourez (PYF), 23, in the opening heat of the day before taking down giant-slaying wildcard Sean Holmes (ZAF), 31, with the highest-scoring heat total of the event, a 19.20 out of a possible 20. The feat included an incredibly long barrel punctuated with a high-risk floater for his second Perfect 10 of the event, as well as executing a mind-blowing fin-throw: exploding through the lip, grabbing rail and landing in reverse before pulling his board around to recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit of a bummer to have things die down like that after the Quarterfinals,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI\u2019m still happy to be here though. The waves were so much fun that it didn\u2019t even really feel like a contest. (On that 10) There were a couple of moments when I didn’t think I was going to make it. It was really difficult to navigate, but I punched through and was stoked. I also got to do a pretty big turn in the Quarters, and I kind of wanted to do one of those this whole event, but didn’t have a lot of opportunities \u2013 when you’re on a wave like that one though, you start gaining some confidence and I just tried to do a big turn. Worked out pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s equal 3rd place finish is not only a personal best for the young Californian, but rockets Reynolds up from No. 34 to No. 20 on the ASP World Tour ratings, a major relief following three, consecutive equal 33rds prior to the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis event was obviously a welcome change in my year so far,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a good start to the season and came here a bit more motivated to compete. But then I started out pretty slow with some board problems and stuff, so I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t do well when I think about what I need in heats and that, so I just go out to surf. This result takes a bit of pressure off in terms of ratings and stuff so hopefully I can get a few more before the year is done.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kai Otton (AUS), 29, was another goofy-footer to bust through Jeffreys Bay\u2019s challenging walls on his backhand, besting Dean Morrison (AUS), 28, in the Quarterfinals before going down in a tit-for-tat shootout with eventual winner Parkinson in the Semifinals. Otton\u2019s equal 3rd place finish bumps him from 27th to 19th on the ASP World Tour ratings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to Jeffreys really trying to focus on getting a result here,\u201d Otton said. \u201cFor me, that means not thinking in heats, and just surfing, so that seemed to work out pretty well. It can be a difficult wave for goofy-footer\u2019s to do well at, but I really think the size helped throughout the event. It allowed us to open up a bit more as it wasn\u2019t breaking really fast on the bricks. I\u2019m looking forward to heading home and training hard for the next event.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kelly Slater (USA), 37, reigning nine-time ASP World Champion and past four-time winner of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, fell to compatriot Knox in their Round 3 bout this morning. Starting the year with three uncharacteristic 17th place finishes, Slater rebounded with a win in Brazil last week, and was poised to threaten the current tour frontrunners with a strong showing in South Africa. However, today\u2019s equal 9th place finish and current ASP World No. 8 rating make a potential charge for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title much more challenging for the Floridian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to probably have to win three straight now to get back in this thing,\u201d Slater said. \u201cIf you do the numbers, I think before this contest, Parko (Joel Parkinson) was ten heats ahead of me, and if I want to contend, I need to catch up. That obviously wasn\u2019t happening for me today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next stop on the 2009 ASP World Tour will be the Hurley Pro Trestles in Southern California from September 13 \u2013 19, 2009.<\/p>\n
Highlights from the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay will be available at www.billabongpro.com <\/p>\n
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com <\/p>\n
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay content can also be found on your mobile phone. Anyone with a 3G or GPRS enabled phone can log onto asptogo.com from their mobile browser. Content is updated real time as per the webcast – event status, results, live scores, news, photos and video highlights along with ASP World Tour ratings tables. <\/p>\n
For more information go to http:\/\/aspworldtour.com\/2009\/aspmobile.asp<\/p>\n
BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY FINAL RESULTS:<\/p>\n
1 \u2013 Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.97<\/p>\n
2 \u2013 Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.94<\/p>\n
BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY SEMIFINALS RESULTS:<\/p>\n
SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.83 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 16.47<\/p>\n
SF 2: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.73 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.67<\/p>\n
BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:<\/p>\n
QF 1: Kai Otton (AUS) 16.17 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 10.83<\/p>\n
QF 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.66 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 10.83<\/p>\n
QF 3: Dane Reynolds (USA) 19.20 def. Sean Holmes (ZAF) 9.84<\/p>\n
QF 4: Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.73 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 14.30<\/p>\n
REMAINING BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 3 RESULTS:<\/p>\n
Heat 6: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.66 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.83<\/p>\n
Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) 12.57 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 6.04<\/p>\n
Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.60 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.97 <\/p>\n
2009 ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10:<\/p>\n
1 \u2013 Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5076 pts<\/p>\n
2 \u2013 C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3672 pts<\/p>\n
3 \u2013 Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3613 pts<\/p>\n
4 \u2013 Taj Burrow (AUS) 3460 pts<\/p>\n
5 \u2013 Damien Hobgood (USA) 3374 pts<\/p>\n
6 \u2013 Bobby Martinez (USA) 3357 pts<\/p>\n
7 \u2013 Mick Fanning (AUS) 3350 pts<\/p>\n
8 \u2013 Kelly Slater (USA) 3030 pts<\/p>\n
9 \u2013 Tom Whitaker (AUS) 2942 pts<\/p>\n
10 \u2013 Jordy Smith (ZAF) 2896 pts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay Stop No. 5 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour Jeffreys Bay, South Africa July 9 – 19, 2009 Parkinson Claims Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, Solidifies ASP Ratings Lead Pictured: Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, has won the 2009 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, his third ASP World Tour event victory this … Continue reading “Parkinson Claims Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, Solidifies ASP Ratings Lead”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asp-surfing-news","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}