Mick Fanning Wins His Second ASP World Title, While Joel Parkinson is Forced to Embrace the Pain

PIPELINE, Hawaii (Saturday, December 12, 2009) -- Australia's Mick Fanning, 28, clinched the 2009 ASP World Championship today at the Billabong Pipeline Masters. It's his second ASP World Championship. His victory means the ASP World Championship trophy will be going back to Australia for just the third time ten years.

Of course, Australia already knew they'd be holding the trophy before today. The only question that remained was who would be holding it, Mick Fanning, or his life-long friend and sparring partner Joel Parkinson. Both surfer grew up together in Coolangatta, on Australia's Gold Coast of Queensland.

Back in 2007, Parkinson was the first one to congratulate Fanning on his first world title. But this time around "Parko" was was doing everything in his power to stop Mick. After all, back in September, the ASP World Title was firmly in his hands.

Parkinson won three of the first five events on this year's ASP World Tour. In so doing, he jumped out to an seemingly insurmountable lead, one that left most of his fellow competitors waving white flags, including Fanning. "Right after J-Bay I remember thinking, 'Well, Joel's got this one sewn up, but I'll keep banging away to see how high I can climb.'"

Then the unimaginable happened. During the August break in the tour schedule Parko injured his ankle while free surfing in Indonesia. Not wanting to expose any cracks in his armor he tried hard to play it down. He had a month to mend before his next event, which was the Hurley Pro at Trestles in September. But the moment he had to pump his board down the line in mushy California surf it was obvious he was nursing something.

"I think we all saw the opening after that," said Kelly Slater, "But Mick was the only one who was able to do anything about it. You have to give him credit for that." Indeed, Fanning earned his first victory of the year at the Hurley Pro.

By jumping out to such a huge lead, Joel had actually taken a lot of the pressure off of Mick. Up until then Mick was the one carrying the weight of his country on his shoulders. It's a burden that comes after becoming world champion. Even after Kelly Slater took the championship back from Fanning in 2008, Mick was still playing the role Australia's leading man.

Mick was more than happy to have Parko carry that load for much of this season.

Now that it's over, Fanning's second ASP World Title is a true testament to his mental toughness. After his steady start was overshadowed by Parko's multiple wins, he went on a tear through the U.S and Europe to start the second half of the season, winning three of the last four events.

Meanwhile, Joel's crumbling was just plain painful to watch. There was no denying the ankle was hampering him after he opened the second half of the season with three early-round flame outs. Though he bounced back in Portugal with a 3rd place finish, Fanning won the event, extending the lead he'd just taken at the previous stop in Spain.

"I really feel for Joel," says Mick. "As a friend, watching him go through that was really hard to take. But as a competitor you can't stop. You have to keep going."

How Parko will react to all of this now that it's over is the real test. Will he be more focused than ever next year? Or will he turn zombie, having been stunned by this painful knock out. For what it's worth, Parko's public handling was as classy and elegant as his renowned surfing style.

Parko was fighting to keep his title chances alive today. With 30 seconds to go in his Round Three heat against Gavin Gillette, he needed a 6.33 to advance. He spotted a set wave and started scratching, but while taking off the wave jacked up and started to closeout. When he bailed, free falling into the Pipeline abyss, the dramatic image seemed to symbolize the second half of his 2009 season.

By the time he surfaced his season was over. He slumped in disappointment for a bit, before slowly drifting back into the lineup, where Mick was celebrating. Fanning soon spotted Parko and stroked quickly toward him. The two friends embraced for a solid minute, even after Fanning's heat (which started right when Joel's ended) got underway.

And back on the beach 25 minutes later Joel was there to lift Fanning on his shoulders, chairing him up the sand.

"I enjoyed myself a lot more this time," Fanning said, when asked to compare this title to his first in 2007. "The first one was a lot of tough, hard work. I just remember grinding the whole time. This time I was able to enjoy it because I was traveling with my friends and my wife the whole time." What's more, in 2007 Fanning was just two years removed from a career threatening injury, something Parko might want to keep in mind as he looks toward 2010.

Both Mick and Joel will arrive home to the Gold Coast of Australia as heroes, and rightfully so. Rabid surf fans in their home town of Coolangatta will be toasting and cheering for days. And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Joel's cheers are even a little louder at all the welcome home ceremonies. After all, the Coolie Cats love a good winner, but they appreciate a good effort as much as anything else. They got heaps of both in their boys.

Photo: ASP/Cestari via Getty Images

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Saturday, December 12, 2009 3:39pm PST