Joel Parkinson used his current ASP WCT World number one position as a launching pad to post the highest score in round one at the 2012 Rip Curl Pro Portugal. It kind of looks like he’s serious.
“I’m here to win,” Parkinson said. “Everyone is. I’ve had a few seconds this year but am keen to put a win on the board. I’m not thinking about the World Title race really. I need to get some wins first before that can become a reality.”
All the favorite (minus Jordy Smith) made it out of Round 2, but there are still four more heats to go. Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
Stop number two on the ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bell Beach could wrap up today. Four heats of round five are underway now and then it’s right into the quarter, semis, and finals. Kelly Slater, Owen Wright, Mick Fanning, and Joel Parkinson are already in the quarters, so this is going to be good. Click here to watch it live.
Day one of the 2012 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach seemed to go well for all of the top seeds, except for Taj Burrow. Burrow came in last against Nic Muscroft and Kolohe Andino in Round one Heat eight. Muscroft seemed surprised by it all.
“My legs are a bit sore after that last wave,” Muscroft said. “I didn’t know if I would have much of a chance against those guys out there, but I was able to get a good wave at the end and got the score. It’s always a pleasure to compete at this level and my best friend Robbo (Adam Robertson) made it to the Finals here a few years ago and that’s given me the confidence to do well here too.”
High men’s score of the day went to Owen Wright with a 17.93. But the day’s highest score was Sally Fitzgibbons 18.84 against Coco Ho and Sage Erickson. For the official word from the ASP follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Apparently, “Victor de le Rue, Janne Lipsanen, Elias Elhardt, Victor Daviet, Nils Arvidsson and company have sharpened their edges for some mass destruction” in the streets. To us it’s just a little more Rip Curl snowboarding to get everyone in the mood. And we can all use some of that.
Gabriel Medina, 17, kicked the canes out from under some of the oldest guys on the ASP tour on Monday, November 7, 2011 at the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco. He took Kelly Slater in the Quarterfinals, knocked out Taylor Knox in the Semifinals, and dominated Joel Parkinson in the Finals in front of a beach filled with NorCal surf fans. When the youngest Brazilian was done there wasn’t a tour vet left standing.
“This has been incredible,” Medina said. “This is my second World Tour win and it has been great. I’m having fun on the Tour. I don’t know what I did out there, I just try to go big and it was great to have a final with Parko (Joel Parkinson). He is one of my favorite surfers.”
While NorCal’s Ocean Beach locals would probably prefer that everyone continue to believe that there is no surf in San Francisco, day one of the Rip Curl Pro Search SF (and Matty Wilko above) let the secret out that ignoring the cold (and the big fish) waves can be had in The City by the Bay.
“It’s hard because you can’t hear any scores out there,” Wilkinson said. “I got a fun left to start with and a fun right to back it up. I was feeling solid, but I knew Michel (Bourez) was going mad and I didn’t feel safe. It was a real fun heat. There’s a ton of paddling but it’s super fun out there and it’s worth it. There are some fun waves.”
Aside from Dusty Payne’s close call with a large ocean predator the rest of the day went pretty well. With a win in the first round Kelly Slater is only one heat away from number 11. And, as the event is running today, it just might happen today if the event can roll through round 3.
The Rip Curl Pro Search SF is underway live at Ocean Beach. In solid surf. Plans today including running through Round 1 and possibly getting into Round 2.
“We’ve got some swell on offer out at Ocean Beach this morning and are going to capitalize on the clean conditions to commence Round 1,” Richie Porta, ASP International Head Judge said. “We’re looking to finish Round 1 today and will keep Round 2 on standby.”
“I’m excited to be competing in the Search for the second year in a row,” said Perillo, “especially since this year it’s in California—my home state—which makes me even more excited to surf my hardest and try to take down a few of the world’s best surfers.”
Brady even gets to face Kelly Slater in Round 1.
The waiting period for the Rip Curl Pro Search begins Tuesday, November 1, 2011. Which reminds us, the paddle outs are going to be half the show. Follow the jump for the official word from Rip Curl. [click to continue…]
When it came to the final between Kelly Slater and Adriano de Souza in the 2011 Rip Curl Pro Portugal it almost seemed like the ocean had already given Slater all the waves she had for him on this day. As Slater smoked through the Round 4 with two 9s, the Quarterfinals with two 9s, and the semi against Taj Burrow with a 9.5 and a perfect 10 it seemed as if nothing would stop him. But in the finals the ocean shut down for the 10 time world champion. When a good wave came, de Souza capitalized.
“It’s been an amazing event,” Slater said. “I can’t remember a time when we’ve had so many 9s and high 8s and we’ve all just got barreled off our heads for three days straight. It’s been pretty amazing. Unfortunately, there was really only that one good one in the Final and I made a priority mistake and let Adriano (de Souza) have it. It’s obviously a good result for me and it makes things harder on everyone else. Let’s hope for good conditions in San Francisco.”
He may not have won, but the Rip Curl Pro Portugal made Slater’s grip on number 11 that much tighter, so at least there’s that. For de Souza it was one more chance to prove that he is not going anywhere and that Brazil is coming into its own on the tour.
“Kelly (Slater) has been my hero since I ever heard about surfing,” De Souza said on the podium. “He is a living legend and to be competing against him at this level is more than a dream come true. He has pushed me more than any other surfer and I owe him a lot. The waves have been incredible for this event. Thanks to Rip Curl for bringing us here and thanks to all the Portuguese who have supported me throughout the event.”
