Kelly pounces in Portugal

The King put his stamp even more firmly on world surfing by beating Jordy Smith in a relatively tame final, held in fun four foot waves at Peniche in Portugal. Despite Jordy landing a backhand superman air his lack of a backup wave gave a busy Slater the scoring edge.

Asked about his thoughts on closing in on a 10th world title Kelly said, “It’s obviously a very big deal for me. If it happens, it will be a major accomplishment for me in my life. I’m fortunate to have an amazing circle of friends around me: my girlfriend Kalani, Belly (Stephen Bell), Travis (Lee) and a bunch of others. Today’s win puts me another step closer and we’ll see what happens in Puerto Rico.”

Jordy is now the only other surfer left with a chance in this year’s title race. We’re sticking with our prediction from earlier in the year: Jordy takes the crown at Pipe. Although K10 does have a pretty cool ring to it.

Next stop on the Dream Tour is Puerto Rico for the Rip Curl Search contest.




Surf ArticlesKelly pounces in PortugalThe King put his stamp even more firmly on world surfing by beating Jordy Smith in a relatively tame final, held in fun four foot waves at Peniche in …