watching live 2:30 am it was crazy to see how much Kelly was bugging out. Mcfanning comboed him, and had the crowd cheering, and Kelly was wiping out on majority of his waves. when he did that air it was an all or nothing scenario just like New york. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HclutaRnEo&feature=player_embedded for those that missed it
Mick caught the bigger waves and on his scoring waves pulled three turns on the Bells Bowl where most people were getting two. He also had a flow to his surfing that Kelly didn't have. Though I think Kelly's air should have scored a 15 on level of difficulty and execution. On Kelly's 8.07 wave with the carving 360, if he didn't get caught up in the lip while doing that maneuver, I think he would have scored in the 9 range and won the final.
slater i feel was robbed. either way, surfing at that level at his age, wouldnt be surprised if he won the title again this year with the way he is surfing.
I watched that heat last night I was hoping slater would pull it off but Mick's surfing was awesome I dont think Kelly was robbed but it was a great heat one of the best ever at Bells according to the announcers.. Slater is amazing competitive athlete but Mick was in charge of that heat from the start..Was patient and got the better waves.. That air put Kelly back into the heat...I think Micks 9.7 was overscored and kelly's 8.07 was underscored but I am no judge was a great heat and was worth staying up for....
Absolutely underscored and happened throughout the entire heat. Australian judge constantly underscored each ride comparatively to the other judges. Especially the "8" with the carving 360. Disappointing...but typical I assume of "nationalized judges when scoring a wave they may regularly surf/know. Regardless, overall it was a great contest. Lot of heats came down to the final few minutes etc. great contest and wave looked fun throughout.
watching it too i had no idea how mick was so patient, he played no defense, and didn't get tricked into kellys mind games by chasing him to Rincon. Kelly had a total of 13 waves, mick only had 3 in the 40min.
EXACTLY, Kelly didn't get robbed but he did get an underscore for that wave. Mick had flow into every hack as Kelly didn't. Thats why Mick won the final.
I have to disagree, the carving 360 was a good move but it wasn't very functional. He got caught up in the lip which kind of killed his speed for the next turn. It was a really good heat and I think Mick won it fair and square, his turns were just more precise and perfectly timed. Kelly's air was insane though, I can't understand how he landed that far out in the flats without buckling his board. Definitely deserving of a 10. For those who didn't get to watch the event you can stream the heats for every ASP event on the event website. Go to http://live.ripcurl.com/?bells2012#popup-2 and click on heat analyzer. You can watch every heat from start to finish and skip around to different parts of the heat.
kelly got screwed by the 360 because he had done 2 previous ones that were better. kinda lame but i like that aspect of scoring because it forces the surfers to keep it fresh.
the announcers said slaters wave (the 8.07) and micks wave (9.70) should come in at almost the same score when they showed the side by side replay or slater with a slight advantage. and let's also not forget mick ate it at the end of his ride...
I thought Mick's surfing was more fluid and powerful, while Kelly's was more radical and edgy. I guess it could have gone either way. Definitely like both surfers though.