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Six times champion moves a step closer
by George Mojo
14/10/2005:// Six times world champion Kelly Slater moved a major step towards a seventh ASP title with victory at the World Championship Tour Boost Mobile Pro in California.
Putting on a clinical display of surfing in the excellent three foot plus surf at Trestles, Slater held off a strong challenge from Aussie Phil MacDonald in the final.
It was Floridian's fourth victory of the season and gives him a thousand points lead at the top of the rankings over current world champion Hawaiian Andy Irons.
Going into the final, Macdonald was adamant he wouldn't let Slater get away with an easy win and dominated for much of the 35-minute duel.
Opening with some powerful front-side turns he notched up a 6.83 out of 10 then followed through with an 8.17 soon after.
Slater, meanwhile, had a low scorer and sat patiently waiting for a wave that would deliver him the 8.67 he required to reel in MacDonald.
While MacDonald was sitting with priority, Slater managed to grab a smaller inside wave with less than five minutes to go and in typical Slater form he went berserk executing a large floater manoeuvre, an aerial and then completed the ride with a lay-back snap. For the wave he scored a 9.07 and victory.
"I was thinking before that wave about how fresh I was feeling and at that point I knew it was going to come down to one ride," said Slater. "I knew how long it would take to paddle back out and there was just enough time left for me to circle and get another one if need be, but luckily I didn't need it."
"It's pretty amazing," Slater continued. "The last three finals I've been in have been decided in the last five minutes - I got Andy in the last 30 seconds in South Africa, he got me in the last five minutes in Japan and now this today. It makes it exciting for everyone watching."
At 33 years of age, Slater is in the box seat for an incredible seventh world crown and at this stage of his career he is arguably finding his best form ever and is confident he can go on with the job of claiming the crown.
"It's all about where your mind's at," said Slater. "It's a spiritual thing. It's all about how you approach things. When things are stagnant in my life, the worse I surf and the more I enjoy things, the better I surf and I feel more in tune with everything. It's even fun when you lose! As far as the ratings go, it's a great position to be in. I was hoping to at least maintain my current lead over Andy but this was a huge bonus today and it feels great to have four wins this year."
The beaten semi-finalists were Australian's Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow.
Current WCT standings after eight events: 1 Kelly Slater, USA, 7,574. 2 Andy Irons, Hawaii, 6,528. 3 Mick Fanning, Australia, 5,838. 4 Trent Munro, Australia, 5,618. 5 Phillip MacDonald, Australia, 5,363
The 2008 Beachley Classic got underway this morning, completing Rounds 1 and 2 as well as the opening two heats of Round 3 at nearby Freshwater Beach in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year
Former Exeter University student Josh Lewin first heat at the Ocean and Earth Pro in the Canary Islands has been delayed because the 2ft surf was deemed uncontestable
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