Mick Fanning defeats Kelly Slater to claim Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach title – Surfing News
Australia’s Mick Fanning claimed the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach title by defeating America’s Kelly Slater in the Final that went down at Bells Beach at Victoria, Australia, on Friday, April 6.
The clash of the two titans was nothing short of epic, with both the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series veterans going blow-for-blow during their 35-minute encounter.
The clean three-to-five foot waves on offer at the primary event site served to set up an ideal stage for the battle between two the two elite surfers.
After finishing in 13th place at the opening event of 2012 ASP World Tour Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks, Fanning was surfing for redemption at Bells Beach. The former two-time ASP World Champion had not emerged triumphant at Rip Curl
Pro Bells Beach since 2001. Pitted against Slater in the battle for the event title served to the make the road to victory even tougher and eventually sweet.
As the 35-minute man-on-man battle for the event title got underway, the 30-year-old Australian surfer got off to an excellent start. He caught his first business wave in the opening minutes of the battle to unload a series of exquisite tricks, consequently
posting a 9.10 on the score-board.
However, the 40-year-old Slater bounced back strongly halfway through the heat to catch a perfect 10-point ride to snatch the lead from his rival. The Floridian surfer went on to add an additional 8.07 points to his account, taking his heat-total to 18.07
points.
Rather than getting pressured by his rival’s intimidating two-wave total, Fanning continued to search for another big score. In the final minutes of the heat, the Gold Coast-based surfer found a juicy wave, which he utilised to score a 9.70. The latest wave-score
took him to a heat-total of 18.80 points, moving him ahead of Slater on the score-board to seal the fate of the heat and thus the event in his favour.
“I’m so pumped,” Fanning said. “Kelly [Slater] did that Hail Mary for the 10 and I thought, ‘oh, here we go.’ I just caught waves and I’m stoked it all paid off. I’m really at a loss for words and I’m just pumped. It doesn’t get any sweeter. The crowd’s
been amazing with the whole amphitheater and the history that comes with it. I always picture this event and have had some seconds over the years, so to get this one, I’m so pumped.”
Despite Slater’s runner-up finish in the event, he moved up to first place on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour rankings.
The ASP top 34 will resume their campaign for the coveted ASP World Title at Billabong Rio Pro that is scheduled to go down at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from May 9 – 20.
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