Kelly Slater Goes For 10th World Title

                    Kelly Slate in France (Will Bailey/Quiksilver)

As competition resumes after an emotional week at the Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico, Kelly Slater will be gunning for his 10th ASP World Title. Both Jordy Smith and the nine-time champ are in contention for this year's crown.

For Slater to clinch, he needs one of the following scenarios to occur:

– If Slater finishes Equal 3rd or better, he clinches the 2010 ASP World Title.
– If Slater finishes Equal 5th or Equal 9th, Smith must win the event to send the ASP World Title Race to Hawaii.
– If Slater finishes Equal 13th or Equal 25th, Smith must finish Equal 3rd or better to send the ASP World Title Race to Hawaii.
– Essentially, if Smith fails to finish higher than Equal 5th, Slater claims the 2010 ASP World Title.

Slater will be gunning for the title during the same week the biggest rival of his career, Andy Irons, passed away. You can watch the event live online at ripcurl.com.

–Joe Spring
@joespring

Second Photo: Kelly Slater 1984, Tom Dugan/Quiksilver