Joel Parkinson is praying for a Snapper super swell for quarter-final

JOEL Parkinson is praying for a Snapper super swell today ahead of his Quiksilver Pro quarter-final showdown with small-surf maestro Felipe Toledo.

Joel Parkinson of Australia battles out against Caio Ibelli of Brazil during the Quicksilver Pro World Surfing League event at Snapper Rock, Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

JOEL Parkinson is praying for a Snapper super swell today ahead of his quarter-final showdown with small-surf maestro Felipe Toledo.

Parkinson feared the ocean would rob him of a chance to compete fairly in his Round 5 contest yesterday with the heat restarted twice due to what World Surf League commissioner Kieren Perrow called a “really strange dip in the ocean’’.

He eventually won through, beating Brazilian rookie Caio Ibelli comprehensively as he continued a dominant start to the year. But he is hoping for better conditions this morning as he bids to win a first championship tour title since 2013.

“I hope we have some more waves, especially against Felipe. I really hope it’s not small and gravelly – that’s definitely his strength,’’ Parkinson said.

“Hopefully we get a little more size, a little more force and we can do our best out there surfing.’’

Parkinson knows the Snapper Rocks break better than almost any surfer in the world.

Joel Parkinson looks for a good wave at Snapper Rocks yesterday. Picture: Regi Varghese

But he looked desolate yesterday when the swell dis­appeared for the first 20 minutes of a bizarre heat, in which he and Ibelli returned to shore after the second restart.

“We chatted after the first (restart). We said, ‘look, if this happens again let’s get out of here’,’’ Parkinson said.

“It’s fair to nobody. Someone will have one opportunity and that will be it and you’ll lose to the conditions.

“That happened to me a couple of times last year and I didn’t want it to happen again. But we got told to go out. We had a little flurry and we both got an opportunity or two.’’

Perrow said competitors did not have the right to determine whether or not the event should be stopped.

“Not at all,’’ Perrow said when asked if the surfers could make the call on their own.

“We were confident that things were going to turn around. We want to get all those four heats done today and not have to break that round up.

“One more restart in that heat and it would have put us in a really bad place and we would have had to consider going away from it. But with that second restart we had quite a few waves come in.

“That was just a really strange dip in the ocean and weird lulling situation.’’

Parkinson went on to win the heat convincingly, notching two scores in the excellent range of eight points or more to show he is back in form.

“I started feeling good toward the end,’’ Parkinson said.