Kelly Slater Not King Yet
Case of Mistaken Champ
There were plenty of celebrations when Kelly Slater was crowned the 11th ASP World Champ – but due to a math error, it would seem that the title was somewhat premature. The Association of Surfing Professionals – competitive surfing’s governing body – has acknowledged that due to an error on their part, Kelly Slater has not yet clinched the 2011 ASP World Title.
Word is that the surfing icon needs to win one more heat and eliminate Aussie nemesis Owen Wright to clinch the title.
ASP World Tour Manager Renato Hickel had this to say:
Our rankings’ system is designed to split tie-breaks based off of seed points, Kelly and Owen tied at best nine of 11 results, so we went to best eight of 11 results and the system gave it to Kelly based off his higher seed position. We were operating under that assumption and created the ASP World Title scenarios based off of that. This was a mistake…. In the end, we’re responsible for this and should be held accountable. We apologize to our fans, the surfers and to Owen and Kelly.
Kelly Slater won his heat against Dan Ross to claim what he thought was his eleventh world title on Wednesday
Kelly Slater won his heat against Dan Ross on Wednesday to claim what he and the world surfing community believed was his 11th world title at the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco. He now has one more heat to go. It’s possible that he can still clinch the title at the event that’s currently under way – if Slater is eliminated, Wright has to win the event to keep the title race alive in Hawaii, the final event of the season.
For Slater to miss out, he would have to lose both the first and second rounds in Hawaii. If Wright wins Pipe Masters, the season would end in a tie and the two would have to surf one final heat for the world title.
It all sounds bizarre, however Kelly got on to twitter to confirm the worst.
I’m not joking, I have not won the world title yet. I still have to win another heat! Give those shirts and hats back!
via: espn
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