Josh Kerr talks about Kelly Slater's 10-point ride at Bells Beach
Australian professional surfer Josh Kerr believes that America’s Kelly Slater executed better manoeuvres than Australia’s Mick Fanning during their clash at Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Final that went down at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on April 6.
During an exclusive interview with STAB Magazine, the 28-year-old Kerr was all praises for the performance put on by the 11-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion as he squared off with Fanning in a battle for top honours at the second
stop of the ASP World Title Series.
Commenting on the 10-point ride by Slater during the Final, Kerr said that it was one of the biggest no-grab-to-the-flat full rotations that he had ever laid his eyes on. According to the Gold Coast-based surfer, the manoeuvre was full of risk as it could
have lead to a broken ankle.
“When he’s combo’d is the only time he does those things, in those situations. I’ve never seen him do something like that free-surfing or on video or anything like that,” conceded Kerr. “He’s a proper, ridiculous sportsman, because he rises even above
his own level when he’s in the heat of competition. It’s the biggest front-side full-rote ever done in competition, for sure. He hucked that thing and didn’t get one bit of cushion before he landed on the flats. He had a long way down.”
Even though the result of the Final came out in the favour of former two-time ASP World Champion Fanning, Kerr opined that the sort of performance that was put on by the two surfers left very little to choose from between the two surfers.
Aside from the 10-point ride, Slater posted an 8.07 on the score-board during Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Final to finish with a heat-total of 18.07 points. While the score seemed like a decisive one, Fanning stepped up to edge past his rival with a two-wave
total of 18.80 points, which included a 9.10 and 9.70-point wave.
The clash between two of surfing’s biggest names did not fall to deliver a heavy dose of intense and exciting action.
Talking about the Final, Kerr said that even though epic battles such as the one that took last week at Bells Beach normally end in Slater’s favour, it is important to understand that the best surfer in the world is not invincible.
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