Kelly Slater is not world champion, yet

After reading a comment posted on Surfline, Kelly Slater just discovered that he’s not actually world champion yet. An astute man named ‘Mark’ wrote that, though it ain’t likely, if Kelly finishes ninth in SF, then 13th or 25th at Pipe and Owen wins both events, then they’d be tied dead even.

Kelly Tweeted “Can you read this comment from Mark? The calculator at the @aspworldtour must be broken. I’m not the world champ yet!” But he was cool about it – funny, even: “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!”, and “Hang onto that KS10 gear if you have some… just in case. haha.”

After Tweeting, Kelly went to the ASP and, following an investigation, they posted this: “The ASP has admitted that, due to a calculation error within its rankings system, the 2011 ASP World Title has yet to be officially decided and that Kelly Slater (USA), 39, was prematurely awarded his 11th ASP World Title on Wednesday.”

“Our rankings system is designed to split tie-breaks based off of seed points,” Renato Hickel, ASP World Tour Manager, said. “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 apologise to our fans, the surfers and to Owen and Kelly.”

So, to recap:

– If Kelly wins either Round 4 or 5 (one more heat win) in San Francisco, he will confirm his 2011 ASP World Title.
– If Kelly fails to win another heat in San Francisco, Owen must win this event to send the 2011 ASP World Title race to Hawaii.
– If the race goes to Hawaii, Kelly must advance out of one heat to confirm his 2011 ASP World Title. If Kelly fails to advance through a heat at Pipeline, Owen must also win this event to stay in the 2011 ASP World Title Race.
– If Kelly fails to advance out of another heat this season, and Owen wins in San Francisco and Pipeline, the two will tie at best of nine, eight, seven, etc. events, and the 2011 ASP World Title will be decided in a “Surf Off”.

“In all seriousness, there may be an honest mistake or computer glitch and we’re getting to the bottom of it now,” Tweeted Kelly. “@aspworldtour thank you. We all make errors. Maybe I made one going public but on the bright side it will create bigger interest.”

Though it’s more than likely Kelly will win (sorry, Owen!), honestly, how exciting would a surf-off be? – Elliot Struck