Billy Stairmand eliminates Kelly Slater from Telstra Drug Aware Pro
The 10-time Association of Professional Surfers (ASP) World Champion, Kelly Slater, has been eliminated from the Telstra Drug Aware Pro after getting outperformed by New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand in the round-of-24, on April 7, 2011.
With big waves hitting the Margaret River in West Australia, the conditions could not have been more ideal for the round-of-24, which was the first round of the event to feature the surfers in a one-on-one battle. Not too comfortable in the previous rounds
where he had to share waves with three other surfers, Slater finally found himself in his comfort zone.
As the battle between the 39-year-old surfing legend and 21-year-old Stairmand kicked off, both refused to let the other grab an upper hand and ended up with an identical 7.50 score off their first wave. Even though the odds were against the relatively inexperienced
Stairmand, he still managed to stay at par with the world’s greatest surfer.
The defining moment of the heat came as a big wave came through. Stairmand tagged it twice, throwing stylish tricks, to earn a 9.0 from the judges. Under normal circumstances, this score would have seemed more than enough to seal his fate as the winner.
However, when going against the world’s best, one could never be too sure.
Slater needed to score above a 9.0 in order to clinch the win. He responded to Stairmand with a great ride, pulling off the competition’s first barrel, but still only managed to secure 8.0. The 9.0 turned out to be the decisive score after all.
Overjoyed over accomplishing something that he had only dreamed about, Stairmand said, “I've got the biggest smile I've ever had. I was just having fun with Kelly Slater, going man on man with him. It was a dream to have a heat with him, to win is a dream
come true.”
Commenting on the result after the contest, Slater said, “I had a chance but it wasn't to be. Anyone who knows how to surf can go out and make the right decisions, it's not big news that you lose.”
By overcoming someone like Slater, Stairmand has proven to the world that nothing is impossible if one works hard and makes the right decisions. The greatest of challenges can be overcome through self-belief and strong determination.
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