Kelly Slater, eight times world champion still holds his unbeaten record for 2008 after coming back late in the heat to claim victory over Australia’s Bede Durbidge in the Rip Curl Pro final.
The unstoppable Slater completed a clean sweep of the Australian leg of the 11 stop tour after winning on the Gold Coast early this month.
Slater, now 36, performed a spectacular aerial to record an 8.3 with only four minutes left in the 35-minute final to pile the pressure on Durbidge, who needed a 6.8 to be able to win in the inconsistent, one metre waves.
Durbidge gave his all on his final wave but it was not enough to better Slaters score. The World Champ took the Bells trophy for the third time after also taking out this event in 1994 and 2006.
Slater won the first two legs of the 2006 world contest in which he took his eighth world title.