Kelly Slater triumphs over Dusty Payne to earn 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing title shot
The semi-final of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing went down at the Huntington Beach Pier, California, on Saturday, August 7.
After the thrilling semi-final battle concluded, it was America’s legendary Kelly Slater who walked away with top honours, defeating Hawaii’s in-form Dusty Payne quite convincingly to guarantee a title shot for himself.
Pitted against Payne in the first semi-final, the 10-time and reigning Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion, Slater, was naturally a heavy favourite. While the 39-year-old Cocoa Beach-resident already enjoyed the reputation of the greatest
athlete in the sport; he was currently competing in his own backyard which was tilting the scales even more in his favour.
The 22-year-old Lahaina-native, Payne, had been one of the most consistent performers in the competition so far, earning his place in the semi-finals through a series of comprehensive wins. However, he now stood facing the surfing giant, unarguably facing
his most daunting challenge in the event so far.
As the semi-final kicked off, Slater wasted no time in placing his competitor under pressure by locking a wave to unload a string of spectacular manoeuvres, earning 8.17 points for the effort.
Payne managed to rise up to the challenge and collected a 6.83-point wave, immediately following it up an impressive 8.07-point wave to climb to a heat-total of 14.90 points.
As the clock ticked away, Slater struggled to come across another good score and suddenly, Payne found himself with an upper hand in the contest. Just when it seemed that the Hawaiian had defied the odds to triumph over his intimidating opponent, Slater
locked a wave to launch a hail-mary, no-grab backside 360 air. He ended up collecting a near-perfect 9.77 from this massive punt and moved past his rival’s score with a mammoth heat-total of 17.94 points, consequently sealing the fate of the semi-final in
his favour.
While talking to a reporter about the thrilling contest that had just taken place, Slater said, “Dusty (Payne) had priority and he had gone on a couple of lefts that kind of fizzled out on him and he was probably thinking that left was going to do the same
thing his other ones did. It just let me get going on the face enough and I just tried to rotate as hard as I could and somehow the board stuck to my feet.”
The victory over Payne sent Slater to the final, where he would have to compete against either Kolohe Andino, or Australia Yadin Nicol for the title.
For updates on the second semi-final of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, stay tuned to bettor.com
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