Pro Surfing and Contests
Kelly Slater - the road to victory
Kelly Slater v. Mick Fanning
As we creep towards the final ASP World Tour contest of the year, let’s take a look back at the contest that marked Kelly’s domination of this year’s World Tour. It was the very first event of 2008, the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast, where Kelly began his ridiculous 2008 campaign. He took down name after name on his way to the final, starting with Rodrigo Donelles (BRA) and Michel Bourez (PYF) in Round 1; Heitor Alves (BRA) in Round 3; top Brazilian, Adriano de Souza in Round 4; three time World Champ, Andy Irons (HAW) in the Quarterfinals; and top Fronchie, Jeremy Flores in the Semifinals. By the time he faced off with local favorite and reigning world champ, Mick Fanning (AUS) in the final, Kelly had taken the “he who has the most fun wins” mantra to a whole new level. His snap to 5 second fakie ride was his official bitch-slap to this year’s tour (see 1:39 on the above video).
One of his more impressive heats on his way to the win was his heat against Andy Irons. Slater posted a convincing win over Andy, sealing his domination with a switchfoot ride at the end. By the end of the heat, it looked like Kelly was just out there having a fun free surf, while Andy looked rattled and frustrated. Fortunately for Kelly, he managed to keep that form through the rest of the this year’s contest. Can’t wait to see how he surfs at Pipe if he goes out there in the free surf mindset.
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