[ SURFING ]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Andy Irons, the defending world and Triple Crown champion, will try to come from behind to catch Kelly Slater in the points standings.
Competition’s heating up
Slater and Kennelly take their points
leads into the season's final events
Game on. Time to pay extra-close attention.
The pro surfing seasons for men and women are well into the home stretch known as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, and the world title races will be decided where they should be, Hawaii.
What's more, for the first time, there could be a Hawaii world champion among the men and women in the same year when everything is finished.
Andy Irons, 25, sits at No. 2 in the men's world rankings, while Keala Kennelly is leading the women. Coincidentally, they grew up together in Hanalei, Kauai, and still call Hawaii home.
"It would be unprecedented, obviously," Triple Crown executive director Randy Rarick said. "And considering that this is the birthplace of the sport, after 2 1/2 decades of pro surfing it's about time we had a Hawaii world champion on both sides in the same year."
There are two events left for the men and one for the women. And, unlike earlier in the Triple Crown (a series of three Hawaii matchups for men and women), these count toward the world title races. "For all the marbles, basically," Kennelly said.
The men are scheduled to begin the main event of the Rip Curl Cup at Sunset Beach today, and when that finishes some time next week, will look forward to the season-ending Xbox Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters at the Banzai Pipeline, Dec. 8-20. During the same time as the Xbox, the women will finish with the Billabong Pro at Honolua Bay, Maui.
Kennelly, 25, is hoping to win her first world title after finishing a career-best fourth last year.
Irons, however, is the defending world and Triple Crown champion, having won both titles for the first time last season. He knows what it takes to win, but this year he has been forced to chase a guy who is one of his heroes, and who's won like no one else in history: six-time world champ Kelly Slater of Florida.
The 31-year-old Slater was "my favorite surfer growing up; he's still one of my favorites to watch," Irons said. The potential showdown is "motivating, for sure, and it's almost weird sometimes -- you're not supposed to beat your favorite surfer.
"(Yet) the ultimate goal is to do it again. ... For it to happen again this year would be amazing, but I definitely have my work cut out for me."
Irons trails Slater by 648 points (8,340-7,692) in the standings. There are two other surfers with slim chances at the world title -- Australians Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow. But the race -- and the season -- so far, has really centered on the pair at the top.
Irons and Slater have won four contests apiece out of the 10 already completed on this year's World Championship Tour. Slater, however, enters the Rip Curl having won the last two WCT stops, while Irons has placed 33rd and then fifth in those events.
Irons has also placed 17th twice this season, while Slater has never finished lower than ninth all year -- so, basically, the defending champ needs not only to perform well in the Rip Curl and Xbox but have the most accomplished surfer ever falter as well.
"It's definitely different this year," Irons said. "Last year, I had a really big lead coming into Hawaii, and this year I need to come from behind. But to still be able to back up my world title, to be in contention in the last two events in Hawaii -- I'm looking forward to it."
On the women's side, there are at least five surfers with a shot at the title: Kennelly, Layne Beachley and Chelsea Georgeson of Australia, and South Africa's Heather Clark and Peru's Sofia Mulanovich. But a good portion of the hype in that race has also centered on the two surfers at the top -- Kennelly and Beachley.
Only 36 points (3,120 to 3,084) separate them. Kennelly has won two WCT events out of four so far; Beachley has won one. Kennelly has contended for the world championship the last couple of years, while Beachley is the record five-time defending champ and, like Slater, is 31.
"This year, even though I'm behind, I don't feel like I'm that far behind," Beachley said. "The difference is very minimal. And there's more pressure on (Kennelly) to defend (her) position than to attain the (top) position."
Kennelly agreed, but said she welcomed the challenge. And while a Hawaii woman has not won the world title since Margo Oberg in 1981, Kennelly has some momentum to go along with her lead heading into the final event, having won the second jewel of the women's Triple Crown, the Turtle Bay Resort Pro, on Tuesday.
"It's a lot of pressure, but it's definitely a privilege to have this much pressure," she said. "I've been in contention to win the world title (before), so it's pretty much the same thing -- just wanting to win. I think (Beachley) has been a great world champion -- I respect her a lot. It really all comes down to the day at (Honolua) Bay -- that day, that heat, that moment."
