JJ Does the Samba

Contrary to popular belief, and very much unlike many predictions, the Billabong Pro Rio had it all, from massive and brand new airs to big barrels and ten point rides, to broken boards and upsets. Many people, including the surfers, were surprised at this, and were caught somewhat off guard by the big airdrops and tubes that were available for the taking. With a beachbreak supplying all the goods, one of the trade-offs was that the conditions were shifty, and some surfers who were out of rhythm were totally out of rhythm and had no chance.

Big notice was put up by Julian Wilson, Josh Kerr and Adriano de Souza in the earlier rounds as they climbed up the top score rankings. Adriano sat with a perfect ten point ride, and Julian, Josh and John John Florence were blowing up, and were all scoring massive nine point rides and all were showing that they were determined to get a result at this event.

Adriano’s tube ride was definitely a ten-point ride, but in my opinion he should have lost a point and half for his hideous, hideous claim afterwards, but after the claim he managed a quick off-the-top for a half point and a final big re entry for the other point, so that score of ten was pretty much spot on.

The waves for the most of the event were quick, and they were serious, and the surfers were pulling in to solid barrels and doing some big air turns. Why am I repeating this? Well, it leads on to the webcast commentators, of which we in South Africa have no choice but to listen to, or mute and listen to Iron Maiden, but I digress. The commentating wasn’t actually that bad, and my theory behind this is that because the waves were so quick and surfing so fast and intense, the commentators didn’t have enough time to describe the surfers performances as ‘building houses’ and such nonsense as heard at other events.

Back to the event.

John John makes his first WT final against Joel Parkinson and opens the heat with a giant backhand 540 reverse and lands it cleanly for a score of 9.10

John John makes his first WT final against Joel Parkinson and opens the heat with a giant backhand 540 reverse and lands it cleanly for a score of 9.10, a really big score for a single move in the beginning of a heat. John John soon follows it with a little barrel and a forehand air for 7.27 and Joel was in the dust with 25 minutes to go.

Joel is a wily old fox and is not nervous of the young whippersnappers like John John, even though he can’t really do airs to save his life. Still, he disappeared deep into combo-land for the good part of the heat, with Joel struggling to find good scoring waves. Joel was representing the ‘old guard’ and John John, who is one of the new crew who are changing the sport in front of our eyes, was representing the latest crop of new school.

Joel came back with a nice barrel and a solid close-out re entry for 8.27 and he was back in the game, needing only an 8.11 to get into the lead. As the minutes ticked by it looked like it could go either way, but nothing good came through for Joel, and John John was declared the winner of the Billabong Pro Rio, his first World Tour win.

Right now John John is ten thousand points, and a hundred thousand dollars richer. Pretty cool.

BILLABONG RIO PRO FINAL
1 – John John Florence (HAW) 16.37
2 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.44

BILLABONG RIO PRO SEMIFINALS
SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.83 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.00
SF 2: John John Florence (HAW) 17.94 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.86

BILLABONG RIO PRO QUARTERFINAL
QF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.90 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.60
QF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.57 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 5.90
QF 3: John John Florence (HAW) 14.94 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 9.43
QF 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.84 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.27

Current ASP WCT Top 10 (After Billabong Rio Pro)
1. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 19700 pts
2. Mick Fanning (AUS) 18250 pts
3. Josh Kerr (AUS) 18200 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17200 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 15750 pts
6. John John Florence (HAW) 15750 pts
7. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15700 pts
8. Kelly Slater (USA) 13700 pts
9. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12250 pts
10. Owen Wright (AUS) 12150 pts