Kaua‘i’s Andy Irons finishes 5th; loses to Slater in quarterfinals by The Garden Island QUEENSLAND, Australia — Eight-time world champion Kelly Slater won the 35th ASP World Championship Tour event of his career, defeating reigning world champion Mick Fanning in
Kaua‘i’s Andy Irons finishes 5th; loses to Slater in quarterfinals
by The Garden Island
QUEENSLAND, Australia — Eight-time world champion Kelly Slater won the 35th ASP World Championship Tour event of his career, defeating reigning world champion Mick Fanning in what was Slater’s 50th final of his career in the Quiksilver Pro.
The 36 year-old has been threatening retirement at the conclusion of this event and is now more indecisive than ever as he finds himself in the familiar spot of No.1 in the world.
Fanning sits at No. 2. Monday’s final was held in the long, 2- to 3- foot rides of Snapper Rocks in front of a record Australian crowd.
The final scores from the 35-minute final showed a total of 17.94 points (9.27 and 8.67) out of 20 for Slater, to Fanning’s 15.23 (9.33 and 5.9).
“Life’s good, man, I’m happy,” said Slater on the winner’s podium. “Everything’s great. I’ve got nothing to complain about.
“I was tired going into that heat, especially after the Andy heat — I pushed it a little bit there, I used a lot of energy.”
When asked about his plans for the rest of the year on the back of this result: “I’m not too worried about it. Just soak up the day.”
Earlier in the day, Kaua‘i’s Andy Irons met his match against Slater in the quarterfinals of the Quiksilver Pro. The result puts the Hawaiian in equal fifth place to start out the 2008 Association of Surfing Professionals elite World Championship Tour. Waves for the final day of competition at Snapper Rocks are in the 2- to 3- foot range.
“It’s still great to beat one of the top guys,” Slater said of his win over Irons. “Andy’s definitely beat me more than I’ve beat him (6-2 prior to this event). You just can’t count the guy out. The waves didn’t come to him. There’s been a lot made of it but we definitely had a great time out there.”
Slater was in formidable form, posting the highest heat score of the competition to date in Round 4 against Brazilian Adriano de Souza — two rounds before he met with Irons.
Irons, meanwhile, was lucky to make it out of Round 4, catching his winning ride with only a minute on the clock. Mother Nature was not cooperating with the 29-year-old Hawaiian, offering very few scoring rides during his moments of holding priority during the 35-minute heats. Slater posted a two-wave total of 17.0 points out of 20 (8.67 and 8.33), to Irons’ 10.94 (6.27 and 4.67).
Slater, 36, is debating retirement from the tour and has already said that he won’t be competing in the next tour stop at Bell’s Beach, Australia.
2007 ASP Rookie of the Year, Jeremy Flores and 2007 Hawaiian Vans Triple Crown champion Bede Durbidge sit at equal third in the world.
The Quiksilver Pro is the first of 11 stops on the 2008 ASP WCT tour. The tour culminates in Hawai‘i, in December. The next stop is at Bell’s Beach, Victoria, Australia, in three week’s time.
