Slater Starts Campaign for ASP World Title No. 10 at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast

In sports history, only few have reached the type of success that Kelly Slater is currently enjoying.  Slater is sitting on his 9th ASP World Championship from last year’s unprecedented performance and he’s not looking to slow down anytime soon.  The only thing that can stop him from getting his 10th ASP World Title is TONYA HARDING, or some extremely gnarly surfing.

Slater is looking to continue his reign at the upcoming Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by LG Mobile, which is the first event of ten on the 2009 ASP World Tour.  The Quiksilver Pro goes down at Gold Coast’s Snapper Rocks on February 28th through March 11.  Slater, who in past seasons has been reluctant to commit to a full year of competition, has announced his intentions for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and has acknowledged the allure of a possible 10th ASP World Title.

“I commit to where I am,” Slater said. “I’ll be on the Gold Coast for sure. I’m pretty excited about some new equipment and am ready to surf, I think. No. 10 is alluring and is there for the attempt, but I’ll let everyone else worry about the pressure of it as well as I can.”

Despite the Floridian’s dominance on last year’s ASP Dream Tour, Slater admits that the acquisition of ASP World Title No. 10 will be no easy feat, especially considering the hunger and talent of returning ASP Top 45 rippers.

“I’m not sure whether Dane (Reynolds) and Jordy (Smith) will pull straight up to that level to start this year or not, but I know that Parko’s always hungry and Mick (Fanning) goes without saying,” Slater said. “C.J. (Hobgood) got a taste of it last year again and will come out firing for sure. Taj (Burrow) will be hungry, but I wonder how his focus will be after a couple of really great seasons and not quite the results that his surfing shows all the time – he’s always one of the best at Snapper. Bede (Durbidge) will quietly execute more people and Bobby (Martinez) is going to be the hungriest, starting the year without a main sponsor.”