One of the most Dynamic finals on ASP History

Who would have ever imagined that one of the most dynamic finals in ASP history would go down in Chiba, Japan. As the surfing world now knows, that's exactly what happened earlier this week at Japan's version of Malibu, a powerful right-breaking reef that is framed within an overhead freeway and a further overhead railway track. It's a kind of surreal setting for a "Dream Tour" scenario, but stop #7 on the 2005 Foster's Men's World Tour featured the most remarkable shoot-out between the sport's two leading lights – three-time and reigning world champion, Andy Irons and former six-time world champion Kelly Slater.

The Main podium at Hebara ended up not seeing any action beyond the Foster's Expression Session. The mobile unit, heavily upgraded in recent times, was deployed from day one, with the first round concluding in fun but small wedges off the groyne at Shidashita, about 40 minutes up the coast from Hebara. Quiksilver's Rod Brooks was closely watching the Ben Matson forecasts, which highlighted a rapidly developing typhoon roaring out of the Phillipines Sea and a couple lay days ensued amidst steamy tropical weather more akin to Bali then late summer Japan.

After snaring Malibu last year the sceptics were out and about. “Oh, you won't pull that off again, that was a freak day,” they'd say. But Contest Director Mic Kato and Brooko were rubbing their hands in glee as there was a distinct possibility of having all three final days of the Quiksilver Pro Japan at Malibu. It all went then to script. The typhoon was upgraded to a Super Typhoon, it began tracking towards us and we built a little fortress under the freeway, complete with trenches to repel the tidal surges. It was a pretty cool set-up with thousands lining the freeway overpass oohing and aahing each fabulous ride while the officials were escaping the 90F degree heat-wave under cool dampness provided by the freeway above.

While it ended up a promoter's dream to have the top two seeds and title race combatants Kelly and Andy in the final, there were many highlights along the way. I was on the upper deck during the heat Taj dominated to score a 19.50 out of 20. I have never experienced such pure stoke from spectators. Everybody wore a huge smile as they rode with Taj, the roars rising to a crescendo when he launched airs or pulled off reverse 360s and then went off richter when Taj emerged from the 10.0 barrel, the first perfect 10 ever in Japan. The atmosphere was electric and there was no less support for long-time heroes Sunny Garcia and Mark Occhilupo. These two old warriors are much loved in the Land of the Rising Sun, and their surfing performances did not disappoint.

The final two days of competition added an ironman element to proceedings. With the high tide book-ending each day, the middle part of the day saw a lot of wash-throughs – the pulsing swell combining with the low and mid-tide phase to create quite a challenging scenerio. With the top seeds in the middle of the draw, Kelly and Andy had to battle in these conditions, whereas Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow copped the clean conditions at the extremities of the WCT draw. It was evident that certain guys were thriving in the washy environment. Sunny and Troy Brooks were standouts, as were the Irons brothers. Kelly wasn't that happy about it, however his performances did not reflect any weaknesses, however the rest of the Florida contingent struggled in the erratic conditions.

It had been quite some time since the Aussies had come on strong as a group, but with Phil MacDonald, Tom Whitaker, Taj Burrow, Mick Fanning, Dean Morrison, Troy Brooks, Trent Munro and Toby Martin on fire, this event quite possibly showcased the best collective day for the Aussies in several years, even if they did all fall short of the final.

Tom Whitaker especially, really came of age. Taking a leaf out of his brother's book (Chris Whitaker is the number two flyhalf for the Australian rugby union team), he showed fine competitorship, and he has definitely added some dynamics to his repetoire, which was fast and edgy at Malibu.

Toby Martin's 3rd was a career best for him and his surfing at times was a revelation. He carved his way through heats in swashbuckling fashion and it was as though a trip to the semi finals of a WCT was de rigeur for him – a road regularly traveled. The reality of course is that Toby had passed equal 33rd only once this year leading up to Japan. So this was a breakthrough in the same vein as Luke Stedman and Timmy Reyes barnstorming equal 3rds at Jeffreys Bay. But when you see a guy like Toby reveling in the testy conditions, putting the whole heat management thing together, you wonder why he can't reproduce it at will. This will be a huge psychological boost so maybe now he will.

Kelly Slater has beaten a path to #1 this year, destroying all before him thrice, while being super-competitive in the rest. He slipped into the quarters without incident. But meeting Phillip MacDonald in 2005 is not the same as it was before his breakthrough performance in France '03. Nowadays Phil is a dead-set heavyweight and you have to solidly beat him to win due to his strength and tenacity. In somewhat of a scrappy quarterfinal, Phil held the upper hand going into the final minutes. Kelly had one crack, it was "last card manila” when he paddled into a walling five footer.

Requiring a 7.51 to win, Kelly mistimed his first snap, a sure way to receive a points penalty under the new criteria. To make up for it Kelly tore into the next bowl, putting pedal to the metal as he came off the bottom. He rose up the wave, up, up and out of the back of the thing, going for the most out-of-control high-velocity aerial 360 one could imagine. It was as though he were free-surfing and went for the high-risk move for something outrageous to do. But in this case it mattered very much, he needed to make the heat for sure, as a loss in the quarters would have opened the door for an Andy surge.

The very nature of the manouever was out of control, but he somehow pulled it and stuck the board back into this weird spot in the lip, then summonsed all his athletic skill and balance to get down and around the section so as to link another move. Now, in the old school if you had pulled off the impossible vertical reo you kind of backed off and consolidated for say an 8.0, but not Kelly. He jammed into the next bowl, went for an insane snap, and came undone. Now this is when I'm glad I'm not a judge. How do you scale something like that, the worlds best move sandwiched between two shockers? He got a 7.83, made it through, and left Macca ruing the one that got away.

At the preso I acclaimed the final as the best combined performance I'd ever seen. In hindsight, it really was! The tide had come in, the sets were a little inconsistent but very clean. Andy had sorted out the wash-through period no problemo and fended off all manor of challenges with aplomb. Kelly had escaped against Maca then blew up versus Toby Martin, posting a tournament high 19.54, even eclipsing the Taj magic, to reach the final with the ascendancy. Only a month ago we were hailing the J-Bay meeting as their first ever in a man on man final. And we know what happened, Kelly snatching victory in the dying seconds with a 9.5.

Andy this time round was cool and collected being very patient with priority. He began with a 9.5 followed by Kelly locking down a searing 8.83 followed in quick succession by a 9.23. Kelly kept surfing and Andy sat still. This strategy has served Kelly well in '05, he puts so many opponents to the sword in the mid-section of a heat by surfing everything that comes his way. It is a questionable ploy for most, but Kelly has that uncanny ability to turn mediocrity into gold dust. It did begin to look like another notch on the belt for Kelly, but this was a must win final for Andy and with four minutes on the clock he struck, slamming a big snap on the outside, then setting up a brilliant tuberide through the tricky middle bowl, unweighting and pumping to link the inside section, all behind a beautiful curtain. Andy emerged, stopped to claim it big time, then saw another opportunity, ripping into a layback snap followed by him pumping his fists in the air. He netted a 9.93, enough to combo Kelly.

It was surreal again. One second Kelly is in command, putting on the Slater show then suddenly he can't win with three minutes to go. It really attacked the senses of reason with theories of relativity being rewritten underneath a freeway in Japan. It was powerful stuff, a testament to what an awesome rivalry we have here, and a portent for things to come down the road. The other strange thing was that the rain completely stopped for the entire final, then, as the preso was about to begin, the heavens opened and it rained in biblical fashion for five days.

Yes, one got the feeling it was time to leave as the Super Typhoon had delivered the goods but was now about to reek havoc on the worlds biggest city of Tokyo. Surfers fled the island nation as soon as they could. It is a weird sensation flying through a typhoon. I'd experienced it once before. The typhoon was much closer, pretty much upon us, and China Airlines were the only ones operating, willing to go for it. As an enticement they upgraded me to first class, my only one ever, and with about 10 people on board they went for it. After a bit of a skirmish with the turbulence you fly out of the typhoon into a starry night, it was nothing, and the Foster's were free, but that's another story.

Well done Quiksilver, what a bitchin' event! Next up is the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Quiksilver and located at Trestles in Southern California. Radical permit restrictions forced Mike Parsons to make the call on the five surfing days almost three months in advance. Speaking to Mark Fewell of Boost yesterday, it looks like we may be in for a couple of swells, a fun head-high south followed by a macking southern hemi for finals day.

We might just jag another bulls-eye! Bring it on!

Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew
ASP International President