Kelly Slater beats Josh Kerr to earn Billabong Pro Tahiti final spot – 2011 ASP World Tour
Billabong Pro Tahiti, the fifth event of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, moved on to the crucial Semi-Final stage on Monday, August 29, at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti.
Kelly Slater continued to remain invincible by defeating Australia’s Josh Kerr in the first Semi-Final to move into the Final for his first shot at the event title since the Quiksilver Pro in Australia in March.
The 39-year-old Slater had shown up at the latest elite tour looking as threatening as ever. The arrival of huge swells at the primary event site further added to his intimidating presence in the line-up, making him a force that only the ASP elite surfers
had the confidence to take on. However, none of them has been able to tame the rampaging Slater so far in the event and were forced aside as he made his way into the Semi-Finals.
Kerr found himself pitted against the deadly Slater in the Semi-Final battle. While the 27-year-old Australian gave impressive performances over the last few days, taking on the world’s best surfer in outstanding surfing conditions was surely going to put
his skills and perseverance to test.
As the battle for the title-shot kicked off in clean four-to-six foot waves, Kerr immediately took the upper hand by locking the very first wave to score 5.00 points off it. Slater soon stripped his rival of the advantage by locking a wave to pull off a
flurry of outstanding manoeuvres, earning 9.00 points for the effort.
After the first business-waves, both the surfers had to wait patiently before coming across another promising set of waves. Slater scored a 5.50 off his second business-wave to take his heat-total to 14.50 points. Kerr needed an 8.91 in order to take the
win, but was only able to add an additional 5.60 to his account to finish with a heat-total of 10.60 points. The 3.90-point deficit removed Kerr from the contention and sent Slater on his way to the Finals.
Talking to a reporter about the Semi-Final heat, Kerr said, “It was pretty frustrating out there. We had a little exchange in the beginning and there just weren’t any more opportunities through the heat. I thought we’d have a bit more action with the tide
push, but it was the opposite. I’m pretty disappointed. It’s a good result for me of course, just thought I could go a little better.”
The Semi-final between South Africa’s Travis Logie and Australia’s Owen Wright would determine who Slater would have to face in the Final.
For updates on the second Semi-Final of Billabong Pro Tahiti, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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