We only had to wait until round three of the Billabong Pipeline Masters to see Mick Fanning claim his second ASP World Title. Mick secured the world title when Joel “Parko” Parkinson lost his round three heat to Hawaiian wildcard Gavin Gillette. Fanning exited the competition in round four, knowing that he’d already won the rights to be the 2009 champ. 
The surfing today was epic with one of the best competition surfing days we have seen for a long time. The waves weren’t as big as they have been in Hawaii over the past week, however waves were hollow, clean and in the 6-8 foot range throughout the day. Perfect 10′s were awarded to Keiren Perrow and CJ Hobgood as the standout waves of the day.
One of the highlights of this years Pipe Masters has been 16yr old Hawaiian John John Florence and his giant killing heat wins. Today John John eliminated Bobby Martinez in round three before being beaten by Damien Hobgood in round four.
The quarter finals should run tomorrow with the remaining 8 surfers including three aussies, Taj Burrow, Bede Durbidge and Deano Morrison. Kelly Slater is still in contention however he did limp heavilly from the water after a big wipeout in round three. However even an injured Slater will be hard to beat at Pipe.
Congratulations to the 2009 world champ Mick Fanning. Well done also to Parko for being a serious title threat this year and taking this title race to the final event. See highlights from today’s action in the below video.
