Kelly Slater: The legend dominates yet another season of ASP World Tour (Part 2)
Slater continued to show off his amazing form at Quiksilver Pro New York and made it into the Final only to meet the 21-year-old Wright once again. This time, it was the young Australian prodigy who managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat by defeating the
greatest surfer in history to claim his first victory of the season.
The fresh rivalry between Slater and Wright continued at the next stop of the World Tour, Hurley Pro at Lower Trestles, California. Once again the two surfers met each other in the Final and this time there were no big surprises as the winner was none other
than Slater. The American had successfully cemented his No.1 position in ASP World Title rankings and was just a few steps away from sealing the fate of the season.
The eighth stop of the season, Quiksilver Pro in France, found Slater in great form yet again and saw him move through the early rounds of the competitions with apparent ease. However, his smooth progress through the competition was brought to a halt by
the young Brazilian sensation, Gabriel Medina, who earned himself the boasting rights for defeating the most intimidating name in the sport and eliminating him from an elite tour event at the Quarter-Final stage.
Making his way to Supertubos in Portugal for the ninth elite event of the season, Rip Curl Pro, Slater was well aware of the fact that a good result in the competition would bring him extremely close to his 11th World Title. As the event got underway,
the experience and skills of Slater carried him through into the Final, where he came face to face with De Souza. The Brazilian surfer had already dealt a blow to Slater early in the season and as it eventually turned out, the American surfer tasted defeat
once again. Despite missing out on the event win, Slater had nearly sealed the fate of the latest World Tour season and only required three additional heat wins to completely seal the deal.
It was Slater’s Round 4 heat at Rip Curl Search San Francisco in the first week of November that sealed the fate of the 2011 ASP World Championship title. Even the elimination from the competition during the Quarter-Finals at the hands of Medina for the
second time in the season did no damage to Slater and his status as the most dominating surfer of the 2011 season.
It was indeed a treat to watch Slater pursue his 11th World Title during what has undoubtedly been an amazing season. One cannot help feeling a bit disappointed to see the World Tour entering its final event of the season. In a recent interview,
Slater admitted that he was not sure whether he would be returning to the World Tour next year to try and reach out for a 12th World title. He had been planning to throw in the towel for quite some time now, but the addiction to surfing kept him
from going ahead with it and always pulled him back onto the competitive stage. If Slater really does decide to actually call it a day after this season, then this means that we will not be able to witness the surfing legend in full throttle again.
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