Friday, 03 July 2009 00:00
Back on the board that saw him blitz the field last year.
Kelly Slater, nine-time World Champion, has claimed the 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil today over home town hero Adriano de Souza, in clean three-to-four foot waves at the main contest site of Praia Vila.
Out of the final eight surfers left in the event four were Aussies: Bede Durbidge, Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow. The odds were good that we’d see one of our boys crowned, especially since Taj, Bede and Mick had all won in Brazil before but the wheels fell off the wagon.
Adriano proved to be too much for Bede in the quarters and Parko in semis, and booked a ticked into his second final of the year. Taj lost to Slater by less than half a point in the quarters and Mick couldn’t get past CJ Hobgood in the clean Imbituba lefts.
In the final Adriano smashed his way out to an early lead, but Slater found his form mid-heat with a 9.27 for a series of huge manoeuvres. Not satisfied with one high score, Slater nailed the final shut with an 8.67 in the dying minutes to secure his 41st ASP World Tour victory.
“There were much better waves in the Final than there were for my Semifinal,” Slater said. “Adriano found a good rhythm early on and posted some pretty good scores, but I felt comfortable out there and felt that the waves would come to me if I were patient. Both of my scoring rides allowed me to do a bunch of manoeuvres and I felt that the scores were maybe a little high, but I haven’t had many good scores this year, so it was bound to go my way at some point.”
Nearly pulling out of both the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro and the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay altogether, Slater made a last-minute decision to come to Brazil for the fans, but his journey here was riddled with delayed flights, visa complications and missing baggage. After a Round One loss on a borrowed board, the Slater juggernaut built momentum throughout the event, riding everything from self-shaped quad-fins to epoxies to his bread and butter performance boards.
Even Kelly looks confused about how he managed to win.
“I definitely feel like I sharpen as the event moves into the later rounds,” Slater said. “I started out pretty slow in Brazil, and I wasn’t even planning on coming initially. I rode borrowed boards, ones that I shaped, epoxies, everything and I definitely think I found my formula today. I actually called my girlfriend before the final and said, ‘every time I show up to an event after trying to pull out, I win.’ I guess that held true today. I have less pressure on myself and am free to perform to the best of my abilities.”
Slater’s win today breaks his worst slump ever as a World Tour campaigner, three 17ths in three events in 2009, and rockets the Floridian from 25th to No. 9 on the ratings. Although a mountain of challenges still stand between Slater and a 10th ASP World Title, today’s victory has re-ignited the competitive fire for him.
“I feel like I have all those guys (ASP World Title contenders) right where I want them,” Slater said. “I don’t feel like I have any pressure on me, and I tend to do my best when I have no pressure. We’re coming up on Jeffreys Bay, which is probably my best event historically and hopefully I can build off my result here today.”
With the support of Brazil evident in the thousands on the beach, De Souza wasted no time in putting the Floridian on the ropes in their Final, collecting a 6.67 and an 8.00 in the opening half. However, despite an impressive opening, Slater would ultimately eclipse De Souza throughout the back half of the affair, rendering the Brazilian with his second Runner-Up finish of 2009.
“I felt like I peaked in the Final,” De Souza said. “I don’t think I could have surfed any better. I thought I had him (Slater), but he’s the nine-time world champ, and you have to be perfect to beat him. I’m still very happy with my runner-up finish. It is my second of the year and puts me in a really good position heading into the next event.”
Kelly's game face...
Having failed to advance out of Round 3 at the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in several attempts (first as a wildcard, then as an ASP World Tour competitor), De Souza’s Runner-Up finish today marks the first time a Brazilian has made the final of the Hang Loose Pro since 2005. Parko found defeat in the semis quite hard to swallow.
“I’m really frustrated as I wanted to win that one,” Parkinson said. “I had an okay start, but Adriano picked up a few good scores towards the end. I got him at home and on the Goldy and he got me here in his home country – that’s what is great about the tour, everyone surfs in their own country at some point. I’m disappointed, but an equal 3rd is a good result for me and I’m feeling confident heading into the next event at Jeffreys Bay.”
The next stop on the 2009 ASP World Tour is the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay in South Africa from July 9 – 19, 2009.
HANG LOOSE SANTA CATARINA PRO FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 17.94
2 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.67
HANG LOOSE SANTA CATARINA PRO SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.97 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.86
SF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.16 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 6.93
HANG LOOSE SANTA CATARINA PRO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.67 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.33
QF 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.73 def. Dustin Barca (HAW) 13.04
QF 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.60 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.17
QF 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 12.87 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 9.17
CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10:
1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3876 pts
2 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3206 pts
3 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3072 pts
4 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 3050 pts
5 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 2940 pts
6 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 2625 pts
7 – Tom Whitaker (AUS) 2532 pts
8 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 2486 pts
9 – Kelly Slater (USA) 2430 pts
10 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 2342 pts
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well done kelly!!!!
only Kelly can stop Parko this year...