Joel Parkinson Wins O’Neill World Cup

Joel Parkinson takes home a dramatic win on the second event in the Triple Crown of Surfing. The O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach was pumping 15-20 foot waves for the final day of the event, and final results were Joel Parkinson 13.17, Sunny Garcia 12.87, Mick Fanning 10.16, and Dusty Payne 2.43.

Sunny led for most of the final, after starting out with a long and speedy barrel that earned him a 9.47 (out of 10). Joel answered back with a few shorter barrels of his own, edging Sunny out by just three-tenths of a point, with too little time to close the gap. Current World Tour ratings leader, Mick Fanning, took third place, while Hawaii’s Dusty Payne took fourth. Fortunately for Payne, his fight into the finals has earned him enough points to secure a seat on the 2010 ASP World Tour.

Joel has now won at Sunset three times, “Winning this feels as good as the first time.” “Right now it feels really good because I’m back on the podium and back winning going into the biggest battle of my career,” as they head into the final stage of the Hawaiian leg of the ASP World Tour at the Billabong Pipeline Masters.