Hurley Pro Lower Trestles: 1st place
King Kelly carried off the beach again... Photo courtesy ASP/Scholtz
Kelly taking advantage of Lowers all to himself. As he said, "I would've let 105,000 people punch me in the face to surf Lowers like that by myself." Photo: English
Lowers this year was ridiculous. Probably one of the most exciting surf contests there to date, especially with the chop having taken place in Tahiti, making the eventual winner having to win more heats for a more well-rounded performance. Lowers fired for three days and the world’s best capitalized. Jordy came into the event number 1 and Hurley even put names and rankings on jerseys for the surfers. You know Kelly was not happy about having to don the number 2 jersey. The champ made mincemeat of wildcard uber-kid Kolohe Andino in round 2, surfed Lowers all by himself in Round 5 due to a missing Davo, thwarted potential R.O.Y. Owen Wright in the quarters, got into Mick’s head in the semis, got one of the best barrels at Lowers ever, and eventually beat Bede Durbidge in the final to be the first winner of the new 36-man contest format.
“What can I say? What a week,” Slater said. The win at Lowers, his fourth elite tour win at Lower Trestles (2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010), vaults Slater into the ratings lead in his hunt for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title. “Looking back at my career, I never would have fathomed a ninth title, let alone a 10th,” Slater said. “I don’t know what to say. It’s still a long road ahead. We still have four events and I’m just trying to soak in this win and not even think about everything right now.”
Another douse of bubbly for K.S. Photo courtesy ASP/Rowland
Turns like this are why he's won 10 World Titles. Photo: English
$105K richer, like Kelly needs that. Photo: English
“I think the new format is good for the fans,” Slater said. “They get to see us surf a little more and it was definitely a different mindset for me paddling out yesterday. I was kind of just having fun. I was out there to have a good time and I sort of realized at the halfway mark that I was in a heat. I feel like I sort of blew that heat, but it’s a bonus. If you win you get a round off and if you lose you get to surf again. I think it’s good overall. It does make us surf once more than we would normally, but I don’t mind out here.”
Kelly now sits number 1 with a 4,500 point lead over Jordy.
On to the Quiksilver Pro France on the next page.
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