Kelly Slater returns to form, wins 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro

there is usually a perfect spot to be in just in front of the breaking wave

Pro Surfing and Contests

By ASP Addict · July 4, 2009

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Just as I called it a few days back, Kelly Slater has indeed returned and has taken the win at the 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro. He stumbled a bit at the start of the event, placing second in his first round heat on a borrowed board, and fell several times, though still snuck by local wildcard Bernardo Miranda on a self-shaped asymetrical quad in round two. After reverting to his older equipment for round three, he built a winning momentum that increased with each successive heat.

Rounds three through the quarters saw Slater tear through a threesome of Aussies, starting with his third round domination over Ben Dunn, his even more impressive point spread over Tom Whitaker in round four, and ending with his close victory over Taj Burrow in their quarterfinal matchup.

Slater went on to face off against friend and fellow Floridian, CJ Hobgood in the semifinals, taking the win in a relatively uneventful heat. His real shining moment was his final against local Brazilian hero and Brazilian World Tour frontrunner, Adriano de Souza. Adriano was on fire for the entire event, ousting the likes of top Fronchie, Jeremy Flores; last year’s event winner, Australia’s Bede Durbidge; and current World Tour leader and Aussie pride, Joel Parkinson. Adriano continued with a strong performance in the final, but Slater pulled a “Kelly Slater” in the waning minutes of the final, posting two high scores in the excellent range and leaving de Souza needing a near perfect score to retake the lead.

While he still has a lot of ground to cover, Kelly Slater is officially back in the running for title contention. His win, along with his three 17ths at the first three events of the year puts him at ninth in the rankings, coming out of Brazil. Our favorite champ turned into our favorite underdog, and now he’s closer to the top of the pack that so many of us love to see him dominating. It will be interesting to see if he can follow up on this win with strong results at J Bay and Trestles, two events where he has a long history of domination.

After a rather anticlimactic event last year, when Slater had already wrapped up the World Title win, and many of the tour front-runners opted out of the contest, this year’s schedule change proved a success and made for an exciting week of competition. Following Brazil, the boys are all hopping flights to South Africa, with the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay kicking off next week. Log on to the Hang Loose website for a complete recap of the event, photos, videos and heat sheets. See you next week in South Africa.

Discussion

One comment for “Kelly Slater returns to form, wins 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro”

Kelly: "let’s discuss how perfect I am…"

Posted by converter | July 4, 2009, 4:52 pm

Pro Surfing and Contests