Again

Taj has been ripped off again. He clearly beat Slater but was underscored whilst Kelly was overscored.

Taj's first wave had a huge air but got a 6. Then he and Slater had identical waves where they both threw the same moves outside but TB did an extra in the shorie. However Slater gets a low seven when Taj gets a high six.

Slater gets a short barrel and a decent cutback for a high eight. Taj gets buried deep, so deep he was being written off by the commentators then burst out the doggy door for an 8.1. Twice as long, deeper, harder to control and obviously not worth the same !

Taj was not happy throughout the heat and the blatantly poor judging (and worse comments from one of the webcasters) totally ruined what should have been the heat of the day. There should have only been about half a point between them but the result should have been the other way around.

I suppose 100 000 yanks want to see Slater win not an Aussie. And we have to remember that this is the contest where in the 80's they rioted because someone saw some boobs. Maybe the judges wanted to be able to get to their cars after the event.

It will be a Slater v Dane Reynolds final unless Dane fails to make a single move. Like other sports the ASP seems to be heading towards the "it's entertainment so we can attract a mainstream audience and screw those that love the sport because they will watch anyway" direction. Non-surfer might by a t-shirt but they don't buy wetsuits although they don't have the same markup.

Taj seems to always be the victim of these hometown decisions and this is his second this year (it wasn't just Owen Wright who should have beaten DeSouza in Brazil). I think it cost him at least one world title during his career.