Bacalso And Parkinson Find Winning Formula At Bells Round Two
by Sean Doherty

“I told Freddy he shoulda ordered da steak last night, bra! You need protein to do that shit!”

Sitting in the flyblown demountable cube that is the Rip Curl Pro surfer’s area, Hawaiian Kekoa Bacalso is fired up. He’s watching the howling offshore wind grab his bro, Freddy Patacchia, and flip his routine pocket turn into an involuntary and highly comical wheelie. Today was not a day for lightweights, a fact not lost on Kekoa.

The wind today was too much of a good thing. It was coming out of the ideal northwest quadrant, but it was gusting at 60 miles an hour. The wind even made guys like Mick and Joel look stupid at times. You were half waiting for it to pick up a sheep or a kangaroo from the adjoining farmland and dump it, twister-style, on the beach at Bells. If it wasn’t nailed down today, it was blowing away, and the same applied in the water. If your turns went anywhere near the lip you risked being unceremoniously blown two-thirds of the way to Tasmania. It was a day when no-bullshit surfing won you the heat.

The generous frame of Kekoa Bacalso, however, was not having any trouble staying anchored to his board. Tank, Bam, whatever you wanna call him, the big kid from Mililani ripped this afternoon, chewing great chunks out of the loping four-foot walls of Winkipop. Tomorrow he’s got a gilded opportunity to take this thing a step further tomorrow when he meets local wildcard Adam Robertson in the quarters. If he wins, and today’s form rolls into tomorrow, he’s likely to meet Freddy P in the second semi.

Kekoa is a guy the tour is crying out for. The bacon-fuelled wrecking ball of a kid breaks every stereotype of the humourless Hawaiian you might have, and he makes for welcome respite from the regurgitated soundbites many of his peers offer to the camera. Described by one anonymous peer as “Sunny on ecstasy”, the former World Junior Champ’s willingness to take the piss out of himself is refreshing. We all want to see more of him.

But whatever happens with Kekoa and Fred on the bottom half of the draw, will, most likely, be consigned to wallpaper tomorrow. The two best surfers on tour at the moment are circling each other ominously in the top half of the draw, and – the inglorious unpredictability of Bells Beach aside – should meet in a semi final in the Bells Bowl tomorrow. The winner of the Joel Parkinson/Mick Fanning semi final should then go on to win the contest.

One of the major impediments to this eventuality drove to Melbourne Airport in a Hummer at 10am this morning, not long after putting a short right into the wall of the competitor’s area. Taj Burrow fell foul of a skinny wave count and a last-minute eight-pointer to lose to Bottle Thompson. Going into tomorrow, on paper the top half of the draw – CJ, Joel, Mick and Jordy – are clobbering the bottom half – Kekoa, Robbo, Perrow and Freddy P. Let’s see what Bells has to say.

Mick is relishing the anonymity only a world title, a fifth-colour yellow steamer, and a ubiquitous webcast camera shadowing your every move can afford. But while the great unwashed masses are all talking Joel and the title, Kelly and the Wizard’s Sleeve, Mick knows the people who really matter – the guys who he’s drawn against – know he’s more of a threat than he ever was. He’s been busy de-guffing his life of any dumb commitments in the past 18 months, rendering it back to simply friends and surfing. It’s showing. His surfing on the Goldy outshone Joel’s right up to the point where Mick lost to him in the semi, and today Mick never looked like losing today a potential danger heat against Bobby Martinez.

Both Mick and Joel have won here at Bells before, and with the swell expected to be six foot with good winds, one of them is odds-on to do it again. Take your pick which one. And until either the seeding reshuffles or Teahupoo intervenes, this semi will keep repeating itself as the year rolls on.

REMAINING RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 13: Jay Thompson (AUS) 15.84 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.83
Heat 14: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 16.56 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 10.84
Heat 15: Dean Morrison (AUS) 13.50 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 6.13
Heat 16: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.50 def. David Weare (ZAF) 10.50

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 15.17 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 13.00
Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.57 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 9.63
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.26 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 3.43
Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.84 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 13.67
Heat 5: Adam Robertson (AUS) 15.50 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 13.13
Heat 6: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 17.34 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 11.17
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.50 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 9.00
Heat 8: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 17.57 def. Dean Morrison (AUS)

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Joel Parkinson (AUS)
QF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
QF 3: Adam Robertson (AUS) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)
QF 4: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)