Even wildcard Mitchel Coleborn clinches Round 1 victory against all odds at Volcom Fiji Pro
Australia’s Mitchel Coleborn was responsible for one of the biggest upsets on the opening day of Volcom Fiji Pro, defeating the defending Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion Kelly Slater from America in the fifth heat of Round 1 at Cloudbreak in Tavarua, Fiji, on Sunday, June 3.
The successful result served to take Coleborn into the third round, relegating Slater and Australia’s Kai Otton into the second round to surf again for the Round 3 spot.
Coleborn had stepped into contention for the title at the latest stop of the 2012 ASP World Tour through a wildcard entry. Things were not expected to be easy for him as his very first heat pitted him against Slater and Otton.
Slater, an 11-time ASP World Champion, enjoys the repute of being the world’s best surfer. Even at the age of 40, the Florida-based surfer is maintaining his repute of being one of the most formidable competitors to face at any stage in a competition. He had missed the Brazilian stop of the elite tour due to ankle injury, but was returning back to action at Fiji.
The third competitor in the heat, Otton, was nothing short of intimidating either, with plenty of technical tricks laying his arsenal and a capability to steal the show on his day.
With six-to-eight foot waves breaking at the primary event site on the opening day of the competition, the stage was set for a series of thrilling battles.
As the fifth heat of Round 1 kicked-off, Coleborn did not get off to the best of starts. The 25-year-old Australian eventually found his luck changing as he got hold of a 9.27-point ride. He went on to back it up with an 8.10-point wave, thus finishing with a heat-total of 17.37 points. The score took him well-ahead of his rivals to eventually earn him the win, much to everyone surprise.
“The heat ended up good but the start was a nightmare,” Coleborn said. “Then I got that one 9-something and it really turned the heat around for me. Once I pulled in, I knew it was going to happen and I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face after I came out. I still needed a score though and bagged another solid one at the end. I guess I got a couple of waves between all of the beatings I took.”
Slater was nothing short of impressive during the course of the wave, scoring a 7.83 and 5.67 off his best-two waves. However, the resultant heat-total of 13.50 points was not enough to pose a significant threat to Coleborn’s score, this taking the legendary American surfer into the relegation round.
The 32-year-old Otton did not do too well as compared to his rivals. Collecting a couple of scores in the six-point range, the goofy-footer finished with a heat-total of 13.27 points, thus joining Slater in the relegation round.
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