Parko Falls at Quiksilver Pro France
By Sean Doherty

Dane Reynolds beat Joel Parkinson today without even surfing against him.
           
Not for the first, nor undoubtedly the last time this year, reports came in this morning that Dane had been out in town the night before his heat. He wasn’t alone. The Quiksilver Pro has run on the first three days of the waiting period, and quite a few of the guys ran the gauntlet last night and took on Hossegor, believing the event would be canned today. The forecast for the event, however, has become increasingly grim – contest director Rod Brooks suggesting the meagre swell on offer today is twice the size of anything expected later in the waiting period – and that being the case round three went live today with some instructive outcomes.

Maybe Dane should bend before every early morning heat, cause what we saw this morning was the future of the tour topped and tailed into 30 minutes. Riding the same rockerless fence paling he’s been on since Trestles, Dane did as he pleased at Les Bourdaines. It was explosive, quirky, and prompted Kelly to later say “That’s Dane, he’s just freesurfing out there.” But it was less what he did, it was more the way he did it. Inhabiting a place beyond non-combative, he even allowed Roy Powers to paddle past him while cruising back out to pilfer priority. It mattered nought when you’re dropping nines and eights. The less Dane wants it the more it comes to him.

Everything that went on today would be judged against Dane’s heat, and that didn’t always equate to good news for the guys who weren’t Dane. Stacked up against The Reynolds Show, the bulk of the rest of it was pretty tepid stuff. Competitors watching on scratching at sudoku puzzles and spectators crashed out and chainsnoring in the VIP area were a testament to both a big night before and some spiceless heats going down.

And so it came to heat eight; runaway world number one Joel Parkinson versus wildcard Patrick Bevan. Normally Joel gets this heat before he paddles out – the journeyman French/Brazilian not possessing the chops to challenge. But, after his sprained ankle, in small surf Joel still isn’t Joel. And after what Dane had done in the morning, bread and butter wasn’t getting you anywhere today. Joel surfed well but never owned the heat, and when Bevan paddled into the best wave of the heat and drained an 8.0 with three minutes left he was in strife. If Joel had progressed today he’d have faced good mate Dean Morrison in the round of 16, a heat you’d strongly fancy he’d win. So instead of a potential 5th place or better, instead he’s driving down to Mundaka with another 17th, and some work to do if he’s going to do this title.

The reason Joel lost was made obvious in the opening seconds of the following heat when French wildcard Joan Duru – up against Joel’s world title nemesis, Kelly Slater – lit up his first wave with a huge snap and a white-hot forehand reverse. It was a wave surfed by someone who had nothing to lose, and the judges dropped a 9.17 as just reward. Joel watched on, willing Joan to fry a second nine and for Kelly to take another 17th as well, but it never eventuated. The Frenchman fell into the trap that caught so many others today – he needed a 5.83 for the win and started surfing to get a 5.83 instead of another 9.17.

Both Kelly and Mick Fanning got through today, meaning this whole world title thing just got a lot more interesting.

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.50 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 12.03
Heat 2: Dane Reynolds (USA) 18.27 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 11.00
Heat 3: Ben Dunn (AUS) 14.57 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 13.13
Heat 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.50 def. Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 12.80
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) 16.50 def. Greg Emslie (ZAF) 9.74
Heat 6: Taylor Knox (USA) 13.17 def. Dustin Barca (HAW) 12.70
Heat 7: Dean Morrison (AUS) 13.57 def. Mick Campbell (AUS) 12.80
Heat 8: Patrick Beven (FRA) 14.87 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.07
Heat 9: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.73 def. Joan Duru (FRA) 13.57
Heat 10: Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.57 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 9.76
Heat 11: Tiago Pires (PRT) 16.43 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.83
Heat 12: Tim Boal (FRA) 15.43 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 14.67
Heat 13: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.54 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.06
Heat 14: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.34 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.50
Heat 15: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.17 def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 10.16
Heat 16: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.67 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 11.47

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)
Heat 2: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 4: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Patrick Beven (FRA)
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 6: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Heat 8: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)