Owen Wright defeats Kelly Slater to win Quiksilver Pro New York – 2011 ASP World Tour
After a series of exciting battles, the sixth stop of 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Quiksilver Pro New York, came down to the Final on Friday, September 9, at Long Beach, New York.
Despite the odds going against him, Australia’s Owen Wright came up with an outstanding performance to take down America’s Kelly Slater and walk away with his first elite victory of the season.
A week ago, the 21-year-old Wright had been pitted against Slater in the Finals of Billabong Pro Tahiti, with the outcome of the contest going in the latter’s favour. Now, the two surfers stood facing each other in the Final once again, this time in the
beach-break waves of New York.
Prior to the start of the Final, the 10-time ASP World Champion, Slater, was a heavy favourite. The local knowledge of the waves and the support of the crowd behind him tipped the scales even more steeply in his favour.
On the other hand, Wright was definitely one of the most progressive surfers from Australia and was indeed turning out to be a formidable talent. Despite losing to Slater in the previous event, the recent performances would have surely given Wright the confidence
to take the American head on in the Final.
As the final showdown kicked off, the 21-year-old Wright got off to a flying start, locking a wave during the opening minutes of the heat to throw down a series of exquisite tricks, earning 9.23 points for the effort. Slater went through a series of waves
before responding to his opponent with an impressive 8.00-point wave, getting out of the pressure for a while.
Almost halfway through the heat, Slater added another 6.53 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 14.53 points. Failing to improve on his score, the American left the window of opportunity wide open for Wright. With the form that the Australian
was currently in, there was no way he was going to miss out on the opportunity. He scored an 8.67 off a wave in the dying minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 17.90 points and walk away with the win.
Commenting on the Final afterwards, Wright said, “The conditions were perfect for me. I knew I'd do everything I could to get to the final with Kelly and I knew he'd be there anyway. Once I got the final I went, no, this is payback for last week! But I've
watched Kelly my whole life. He's been a huge inspiration to me. “
With his win at Quiksilver Pro New York, Wright rose to No.2 on the ASP World Rankings, while taking home a record USD 300,000 as prize money. Slater held on to his No.1 slot on the world rankings after his runner-up finish.
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