Watch: Joel Parkinson’s Clean Sweep in the Maldives

After scalping the single fin, twin-fin and thruster divisions at the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions, it was only fitting that 2012 World Champ Joel Parkinson would beat 2015 World Champ Adriano De Souza in the grand finale, completing a  clean sweep of the comp for the first time ever.

And he did it in dramatic fashion, by turning the final on his very last wave.

"With less than a minute to go Parkinson paddled into a long wall and tore into section after section, seemingly to take the win, an uncharacteristic claim after his last turn suggesting the Aussie definitely felt the same," reads the presser.

"De Souza and Parkinson sat next to each other in the channel as the scores were read out. De Souza locked in his best wave of the final, an 8.6, and Parkinson’s requirement suddenly jumped up from an easily attainable 6.97 to a far more demanding 7.57. After a dramatic pause the judges deemed Parkinson’s last wave to be worth a 9.0, and on his second visit to Kuda Huraa he hoisted the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy for the first time.

“Ten from ten!” said Parkinson, after his win. “I definitely didn’t expect that, and for it all to come down to the last minute of the last heat is as good as it gets. Imagine if I won nine of nine then had a shocker and lost the event! With the momentum I had and getting to know the break and where to sit, I still felt like I was in a good rhythm in the final even when Adriano got a few scores early. Thankfully the wave gods sent me a wave right at the end. I haven’t done a turn like that first one in five years, I had the section and jammed it. When I rode out of it I knew was on my way and just had to get the job done, and in the end I was lucky enough to get the score.”

Click play above for highlights from the final, including the aforementioned "best turn" Parko's done in five years. Considering we don't get to see nearly enough of Parko's silky smooth style now that he's retired from the CT, we'll take any Parko clips we can get.

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