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21-year-old Kiwi from Raglan posts an outstanding nine point ride to beat the champ. |
Billy “The Kid” Stairmand on the decisive 9 point ride that nailed the win over Kelly Slater! Photo ASP/Woolacott
New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand today defeated 10X World Champion Kelly Slater at the Telstra Drug Aware Pro at Margaret River. The 21-year-old Kiwi from Raglan on NZ’s North Island West Coast posted an outstanding nine-point ride mid heat to take the lead. With less than five minutes on the clock Kelly was in need of a nine-point-ride. For many that mountain would seem impassable, but not Slater. Kelly gets nine’s in his sleep and looked confident paddling into a solid inside right with just three minutes on the clock. Pulling into a relatively clean backdoor barrel, Kelly than traversed, the big open face, and set up for a massive forehand hack. The nine was there for the taking, but uncharacteristically, Slater backed off the gas and did a rudimentary (for him) fly-away floater on the close-out section, rather than ripping into it… The wave eventually scored the world champ an excellent eight-point-ride, but it was too little, too late. Side-by-side with Billy, as the seconds ticked away, a final chance eluded the American and Billy took the biggest scalp in world surfing history. Kelly will surely rue the missed opportunity to finish the deal on his final wave.
Slater out, Stairmand through to the round of 12 surfers who remain in this elite ASP PRIME event!
Spectator entry to the Telstra Drug Aware Pro is free. For more information, visit www.telstradrugawarepro.com
