Kelly Slater Bails On Bali For Cloudbreak, Mikey Wright And Barron Mamiya Are In For Keramas

Ambivalent news from the WSL today. 

After putting on a clinic at Lowers on Wednesday and then boarding flight to Fiji to surf, or perhaps just watch, what looks to be the best swell at Cloudbreak since 2012, Kelly Slater has officially pulled out of the Corona Bali Protected due to his lingering foot injury.

He once won at solid Teahupo’o with a broken foot. Why not massive Cloudy? Proof: @moralesedwin

Also out of the event is Caio Ibelli who, like Slater, has an impacted shoe-stuffer.

Replacing the aforementioned surfers will be Australian Mikey Wright – who due to his impressive performances throughout the QS and CT seasons has earned himself another chance to punish John – and Barron Mamiya, the 18-year-old Hawaiian who got here presumably based on his performance in Waco last week.  

We all know what Mikey can do at Keramas, but let’s watch a little teaser just because we can. 

Meanwhile Barron is the true wildcard of the event. Having no previous CT experience nor any quantifiable reason for being selected to surf in this event (he’s only 18 so I don’t think Corona would have given him an exemption, and his QS ranking is solid but not quite top five…), I thought it’d be interesting to hear Barron’s thoughts on surfing in Keramas.

Stab: Barron! Congrats on getting into Keramas. How… did all this happen?
Barron Mamiya: I had just lost out of the QS in Japan, so I went to Tokyo with Shaun (Ward, Barron’s manager) to check out the city because I had never been there before. Then I got a call from Joel Centeio saying, “There’s a spot in the contest for you!” I was like “What contest?” He’s like, “Keramas, but you gotta get there right now!” So I cancelled my flight home and booked one straight to Bali. Now I’m here.

Weird! So, how are you feeling about Keramas? And going up against Gabriel Medina in Round 1? 
Good! I honestly feel no pressure at all, so it’ll be fun to go up against one of the best surfers in the world. I don’t really have the best boards for Keramas right now, because all my boards were for Japan which was pretty small, but it’ll be fine, I’m sure. 

What’s your strategy? You gonna “surf smart” or let ’em hang?
Like I said, there’s no pressure on me at all. So I’m just gonna go out and surf like I normally would. Maybe if I get a good section, I might try a flip or something.

I think everybody would love to see that. Best of luck brother!