JEFFREYS BAY, South Africa (Wednesday, July 15, 2009) – Joel Parkinson earned his second Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay title on Wednesday, posting a dominant performance in the 40 minute final where he convincingly defeated Damien Hobgood in classic one to 1.5 metre waves at Supertubes.

Parkinson, 28, from Queensland in Australia, started the final with a wave that peeled the length of the point on which he ducked into five tubes linked by smooth rail to rail transitions and vertical manoeuvres to net a near perfect 9.47 points out of 10 that had Hobgood under pressure from the outset.

The American waited nearly 20 minutes for his first ride, a mid-range 5.67, and then Parkinson’s next ride of 6.50 put him into a combination situation and needing to improve on both his scores. A ride in the last seconds left Hobgood still needing a massive 9.70 when the siren sounded to end the heat.

“Jeffreys Bay is really special place and I love coming here,”
Parkinson said. “It’s been 10 years since my first visit and when the waves are as good as they have been over the past three days, there is nowhere I would rather be.”

Parkinson was in imperious form throughout the event, recording over
15 points out of 20 in each of his five match-ups, including two perfect 10 point rides. He outpointed Heath Joske (AUS) in Round 2, Kieren Perrow (AUS) in Round 3, Bobby Martinez (USA) in the quarters and Kai Otton (AUS) in the semis.

The win was Parkinson’s second at Jeffreys Bay, following his victory as an 18-year-old wildcard in 1999, and his third on the 2009 ASP World Tour giving him a solid 1 400 point lead over second placed CJ Hobgood, twin brother of the finalist.

Hobgood’s path to the final, his second at J-Bay, was a tougher affair with the American scoring narrow victories over Chris Davidson (AUS), Bede Durbidge (AUS), Taylor Knox (USA) and then Dane Reynolds (USA) in the semis, all of them by less than one full point.

His second place in the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay sees Hobgood climb from No. 10 to No. 5 on the latest ASP World Tour rankings.

The final day’s action got underway at 7.30am in overhead waves and NW crosswinds that changed to clean offshore Westerlies as the swell slowly dropped in size and consistency.

The biggest upset of the day came when Kelly Slater was eliminated by fellow American and close friend Taylor Knox in Heat 7 of Round 3. The nine-time ASP World Champion and defending Billabong Pro Champion was unable to produce anything over 3.77 points as Knox opened his account with a solid 8.0 and added a 4.57 for a comprehensive win.

The much anticipated second heat in the Clash of the Icons between surfing legends Mark Occhilupo (AUS) and Tom Curren (USA) saw Occy restore parity in the 18 encounters since their first meeting 23 years ago.

Curren notched up two mid-range scores of 6.67 in the clean head-high waves while Occy found the best wave of the 30 minute heat and used his trademark powerful top to bottom turns to earn an excellent 8.67, which combined with a 5.0 in the dying minutes was enough for victory.

After Curren’s win in the first match-up at Jeffreys Bay yesterday, the tally between the two long time adversaries is now nine wins each and plans are already being made for another Clash of the Icons in the future.

Sean Holmes (Cape Town) was the highest placed South African in the
2009 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, advancing to the quarterfinals before meeting his match in an on-fire Dane Reynolds. The American opened his account with his second perfect 10 point score of the event before pulling out a repertoire of futuristic manoeuvres on the overhead waves to earn a 9.20.

Holmes equalled his previous result of equal fifth, pocketing US $9 000 (approx. R70 000), while Reynolds won the WTA award of a unique Nixon watch valued at US $10 000 for the highest heat total of the event – 19.20 out of a possible 20 – the second highest heat on the
2009 ASP World Tour.

Of the other South Africans in the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, Jordy Smith (Durban) and Greg Emslie (East London) placed equal 17th. David Weare (Durban) and wildcards Ryan Payne (St Francis Bay) and Devyn Mattheys (East London) were eliminated in Round 1, finishing equal 33rd

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY FINAL DAY RESULTS:

FINAL: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.97 def Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.94

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY SEMIFINAL RESULTS:

SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.83 def Kai Otton (AUS) 16.47

SF 2: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.73 Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.67

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:

QF 1: Kai Otton (AUS) 16.17 def Dean Morrison (AUS) 10.83

QF 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.66 def Bobby Martinez (USA) 10.83

QF 3: Dane Reynolds (USA) 19.20 def Sean Holmes (ZAF) 9.84

QF 4: Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.73 def Taylor Knox (USA) 14.30

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 3 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.60 def CJ Hobgood (USA) 10.17

Heat 2: Dean Morrison (AUS) 17.63 def Nathaniel Curren (USA) 11.57

Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 15.00 def Ben Dunn (AUS) 12.50

Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.50 def Kieren Perrow (AUS) 12.33

Heat 5: Sean Holmes (ZAF) 15.50 def Mick Campbell (AUS) 13.57

Heat 6: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.66 def Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.83

Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) 12.57 def Kelly Slater (USA) 6.04

Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.60 def Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.97

CLASH OF THE ICONS

Heat 2: Mark Occhilupo (AUS) 13.67 def Tom Curren (USA) 13.34

2009 ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10:

1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5076 pts

2 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3672 pts

3 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3613 pts

4 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 3460 pts

5 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 3374 pts

6 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 3357 pts

7 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 3350 pts

8 – Kelly Slater (USA) 3030 pts

9 – Tom Whitaker (AUS) 2942 pts

10 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 2896 pts