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Joel Parkinson Talks About 2009 with Surfing Mag

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 January, 2009 : - - Joel Parkinson (AUS), 27, 2008 Vans Triple Crown Champion and current ASP World No. 4, has been a contender for the ASP World Title since he stepped foot on the Dream Tour. However, in an era dominated by teammate Andy Irons (HAW), 30, the phenomenal Kelly Slater (USA), 36, and fellow Gold Coast sparring partner Mick Fanning (AUS), 27, Parkinson has yet to achieve professional surfing’s holy grail.

Hot off the heels of a banner season in Hawaii and looking ahead to the 2009 ASP World Tour season, Joel recently sat down with Surfing Magazine to give his thoughts on the new year. This...is their story...

We’ve been saying it for years: when is Joel Parkinson – the smoothest surfer on tour – going to win a world title? He certainly has the talent. Has had monster heats, like his perfect 20 at this year’s Billabong Pipeline Masters. But does he have the killer instinct, the long-term commitment, the single-minded focus, to stitch together a convincing world title campaign?

Just ask nine-time champ Kelly Slater, who says Parko’s the biggest threat to his tenth in ’09. Or you can ask Joel himself, who by all indications is already gearing up for late February, the start of the 2009 ASP World Tour. In a recent interview with SURFING, Parko elaborates on this and a few other things:

ON HIS VANS TRIPLE CROWN TITLE:
“I definitely had my eyes on the Triple Crown title. I stayed home and trained and all I wanted to do was go for the Triple Crown. I wasn’t thinking about anything else – Kelly already sealing it, all that stuff was irrelevant to me at that point. All I wanted to do was end the year on a strong note.”

ON KELLY’S BOARD CHOICE AT THE BILLABONG PIPELINE MASTERS:
“So good. I reckon it’s so good. I reckon he’s changing it. He’s got me thinking, that’s for sure. I’m all over it. You know, he’s got no pressure and he can experiment in heavy situations. He’ll definitely change board design if anyone will.”

Read the full interview on Surfing Magazine

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www.surfingthemag.com

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