Kelly Slater nine-time ASP World Champion, has claimed his fourth Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach title over reigning two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning in clean three-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at the backup venue of Johanna Beach.
The second stop on the 2010 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach was completed over four different venues this year, with Round 1 at Bells Beach, Round 2 at Thirteenth Beach, Round 3 and the opening half of Round 4 at Winkipop before the final day was completed at Johanna Beach.
Following a relatively slow start to the highly-anticipated Final, Fanning unleashed with a 7.17 to take the lead. The lightning-fast Australian strung together a series of high-speed maneuvers to pull ahead and put the Floridian on the ropes.
However, Slater would answer back with an incredible Alley-oop aerial maneuver, boosting so high his feet separated from his board before he recovered for an 8.93. Slater then paddled out into another excellent wave, scoring an 8.10 to bring his total to 17.03 out of a possible 20 – a lead that Fanning would not surpass.
The win sees Slater vault from 9th to 2nd on the elite ASP World Tour rankings, setting up his campaign for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title.
Jordy Smith finished 5th after losing to Mick in the quarter finals and is lying 3rd in the WCT championship race.
Watch highlights from the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach on www.live.ripcurl.com
The next stop on the 2010 ASP World Tour will be the Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil from April 23 through May 2, 2010.
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 17.03
2 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.00
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.33 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.50
SF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.66 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 3.80
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.34 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 4.87
QF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.20 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.00
QF 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 15.10 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.40
QF 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.10 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.00
CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 (After Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach):
1 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 16500 pts
2 – Kelly Slater (USA) 13750 pts
3 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13250 pts
4 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 13000 pts
5 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 11750 pts
6 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 10500 pts
6 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10500 pts
6 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10500 pts
9 – Dane Reynolds (USA) 8250 pts
10 – Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 7500 pts
10 – Adrian Buchan (AUS) 7500 pts
