Parko driving through a freight train Keramas barrel during Round 3 of the Oakley Pro Bali.
Image Credit: ASP / HAYDEN-SMITH

The Oakley Pro Bali resumed competition last night. With a considerable jump in swell after 4 lay days, Keramas delivered six-to-eight foot kegs for the early Round 3 heats.

The highlight heat of the round had to be Parko’s match-up against an on-fire Damo Hobgood. Luckily for the defending champ who can’t afford to post any more equal 13th places if he wants to stay in the title race, Parko ended up squeezing through with 18.60 over Damo’s 18.26.

“That was really really fun,” said Parko amping after the win. “We had non-stop waves for the heat and were just going back-and-forth on exchanges. I’ve been coming to Keramas for years and it’s one of my favorite waves in the world. The conditions this morning were absolutely incredible – sheet glass and big barrels. You can’t really ask for much more.”

John John Florence’s return heat against fellow Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz was always going to command attention after their amazing Round 1 exchange. While the scoreboard wasn’t as tight, John John’s incredible display of power surfing including one of the biggest forehand gouges ever saw him progress to Round 4.

“Sebastian and I have had a lot of heats together lately,” Florence said. “He’s a couple of years older than me and he’s a really strong surfer. We had a really good Round 1 with lots of high scores and the waves this morning are ones that we both like to surf in. Unfortunately for Bass, he broke his board on his opening wave and I think that put him out of rhythm for the rest of the heat.”

Other top seeds Kelly, Taj and Mick all dominated their heats. There were however two big upsets. Jordy going down to Freddy Patacchia in the final heat of the day and Brazilian aerial wiz Gabes Medina who lost out to The Spartan Bourez, despite the windier afternoon conditions lending themselves to plenty aerial manoeuvres.

“Very fun waves out at Keramas today,” Bourez said. “I’m feeling strong and healthy and I have very good boards at the moment. I had a good start to the year with a 3rd on the Gold Coast, but have had some poor results too already. Keramas is a wave that is very rippable for all the guys on tour. I feel like I can surf it well if I get the right waves in my heats.”

Incidentally, it was a tough day for Brazil all round. Having been touted to do well in the event due to the high performance aspect of Keramas, only Adriano de Souza remains in the draw.

OAKLEY PRO BALI ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.83 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 9.17
Heat 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 12.10 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.67
Heat 3: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.60 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 18.26
Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) 16.70 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 6.77
Heat 5: John John Florence (HAW) 16.07 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 13.87
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.96 def. Putra Hermawan (IDN) 8.90
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.53 def. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 9.73
Heat 8: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.74 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.94
Heat 9: Nat Young (USA) 16.10 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 15.03
Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.73 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 10.67
Heat 11: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.94 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 8.94
Heat 12: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.50 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.34

UPCOMING OAKLEY PRO BALI ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Joel Parkinson (AUS)
Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS), John John Florence (HAW), Kelly Slater (USA)
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS), Julian Wilson (AUS), Nat Young (USA)
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Michel Bourez (PYF), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)