Joel Parkinson and Tiago Pires among top performers in first-half of Round 2 at Burton Toyota Pro

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro delivered an even heavier dose of thrilling action during the Round 2 proceedings, which began at the Merewether in Newcastle, Australia, on Wednesday, February 20, 2013.

The defending Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion Joel Parkinson was without any doubt one of the biggest reasons for attracting a huge crowd to the primary event site.

The Australian surfer surely lived up to the expectations of the crowd as he took on New Zealand’s Matt-Lewis Hewitt, Australia’s Wade Carmichael and South Africa’s Steven Sawyer in the opening heat of Round 2.

Parkinson looked in control right from the start of the heat and eventually went on to assert his dominance in the four-man battle by scoring an 8.00 off his first business wave, before adding an additional 9.00 to his account, thus finishing with a combined wave-total of 17.00 out of a possible 20, forcing Hewitt to settle for second place with his heat-total of 13.23 points.

“As World Champion I guess I feel there’s a target on my back, I’m the one to take down but once I was in the heat I felt good out there – It’s good to get the jersey back on” said Parkinson. “Toward the end of last year there was an incredible amount of pressure and now that’s not there maybe I can be an even more dangerous opponent in the water.”

With the opening event of the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour, Quiksilver Pro, just around the corner, Parkinson will surely want to register a win at Merewether and carry the momentum he gains to Gold Coast.

Portugal’s Tiago Pires was another surfer who put on a very impressive performance during his Round 2 heat.

Pitted against Indonesia’s Oney Anwar, America’s Michael Powell and Australia’s Mark Occhilupo in the third heat, the Portuguese surfer got off to an energetic start and eventually posted a 7.67 on the score-board.

He soon backed it up with an 8.50-point ride, thus moving to a heat-total of 16.17 points. With the second-place finisher Anwar finishing well behind with a heat-total of 11.67 points, Pires walked away with a convincing victory.

Other top formers in the first nine heats of Round 2 included Brazil’s wunderkid Felipe Toledo and France’s Joan Duru.

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Feb 24 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.