ESPN.com
After all the fanfare, celebrations and media attention, the Association of Surfing Professionals — competitive surfing’s governing body — has conceded that due to errors in their math, Kelly Slater has not in fact clinched the 2011 ASP World Title.
Slater was deemed the titlist Wednesday; according to the ASP, he now needs to win one more heat to clinch the title to eliminate Owen Wright from contention.
"Our rankings’ system is designed to split tie-breaks based off of seed points," said Renato Hickel, ASP World Tour Manager, in a statement. "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 apologize to our fans, the surfers and to Owen and Kelly."
"I’m not joking," tweeted Slater. "I have not won the world title yet. I still have to win another heat! Give those shirts and hats back!"
Slater can still clinch at the event that’s currently under way — the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco — even if he loses his next heat, as round four is a "no losers" round. If Slater is eliminated, Wright has to win the event to keep the title race alive heading to Hawaii.
If that happens, Slater would have to lose both the first and second rounds at Hawaii‘s Billabong Pipeline Masters, the final event of the season. If Wright wins Pipe Masters, the season would end in a tie and the two would have to surf one final heat for the world title.
Round four of competition at the Rip Curl Pro Search, held in Ocean Beach, Calif., could continue Saturday, conditions permitting.
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See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
