Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach: 1st place
The first victory of 2010 for Kelly, kickstarting the World Title run. Photo courtesy ASP/Scholtz
Classic Kelly at Bells this year. He breaks two bones in his foot while freesurfing (check the video of it here) and continues to demolish the field. His Round 3 heat against Dusty Payne was an early statement by Kelly. Despite Dusty’s nosepick from hell Kelly kept to his guns and knocked the rookie Hawaiian out.
Kelly blew some tail along the way to knock out Dusty Payne in Round 3. Photo courtesy ASP/Robertson
But that was just the beginning for Kelly. The final pitted himself against Mick and it was a shootout from the start, the capper being Kelly’s massive alley oop. “I was surprised when my feet landed on my board after that alley oop,” said Slater of the momentum-changing move.
Kelly keeping that foot on wraps. Photo courtesy ASP/Scholtz
Winning with an injured foot, not a first for Kelly. Photo courtesy ASP/Robertson
Of course Kelly can play a didgeridoo. Photo courtesy ASP/Scholtz
He then passed around the huge Bells trophy that Rip Curl awards the winner every year, letting everybody get a chance to ring it since this was his fourth (tying MR for most Bells ever). But that wasn’t it either for firsts, Kelly then gave the trophy away to the local Aboriginal tribe, thanking them in the process for letting the contest happen on their land. And as if he hadn’t showcased his talents enough, he started jamming on the didgeridoo with the local boys. Kelly now heads to Brazil ranked second in the world behind Taj Burrow…
On to the Billabong Pro Santa Catarina in Brazil on the next page.
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