Could Kanoa Igarashi win more titles than Kelly Slater?
What did you think about Kanoa Igarashi’s Snapper run? He beat Keanu Asing and Jeremy Flores before losing to John John and Disco Stu in round 4 and Ace Buchan in round 5. What did you think of his first heat at Bells? He beat Dusty Payne and Italo Ferraira and has not lost yet. Is he a future world champ? Do you feel the burn?
Rory Parker has, often and accurately, described this as the Dead Ball Era of surfing. A historical epoch where a very conservative approach combined with a fluency in safe airs/safe barrel equals a champion. Rory wrote of last year:
The top two surfers on the tour, De Souza and Fanning, figured out the rules, knew what it took to win. Unfortunately for us, the viewers, what it took to win was technically perfect, totally uninspired surfing. Outside of a heat I think it’s an easy statement to claim that Fanning is the superior wave slider, but once the horn sounds they step into the same role. Link the turns together, don’t fall, bonk it at the end. Tens may win heats, but consistent sevens win titles.
So true and, you know, Kanoa seems like a surfer built for 7s. He seems like the perfect creation for the time. Certainly on bigger wave’d stops he will be tested and found wanting but does it really matter anymore? If he can do well or very well at Bells, Rio, J-Bay, Trestles, France, Portugal does he even really need Tahiti, Fiji, Pipe which assumes that those waves all go big? I’ve seen Kanoa surf Teahupo’o with my own eyes. He maybe should skip if it does go big.
A question mark could potentially be young Igarashi’s competitive drive but, by all accounts, he seems very competitive, having chewed through the WQS quickly and hopping on tour right away. Safe plus competitive could really and truly lead to so many multiple crowns in the current climate.
Do you think the World Surf League is licking its parched lips at the prospect of a handsome Asian-American? He is a star in Japan because of a reality show and also Korea and parts of China, you know. Or do you think the powers that be will change the judging criteria and force tour surfers to really put on a show? Does it even matter? Like, let’s be honest, you and I are going to kind of watch no matter what and the Koreans and the Chinese won’t know good surfing if it bit them on their asses.
Will Kanoa Igarashi win more titles than Kelly Slater?
Kanoa will for sure win more titles than Kelly at the World Fishing League
Kanoa’s approach is part Dead Ball Era part Bataan Death March.
fact or speculation?
I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying Mick Fanning was a better surfer at Kanoa’s age than Kanoa is now. Fanning won Bells as a wildcard at Kanoa’s age. He qualified the next year, a year when there were about 200 more surfers on the WQS than there are on the current QS. He was a top five surfer in the era of KS/AI, which was undoubtedly the highest level of competition that pro surfing has managed to produce. I would also back my visual judgement on this, having watched Mick in 2000 and Kanoa now I think there’s no doubt Fanning was a massively better surfer at the same age.
That’s not the same as saying Kanoa doesn’t deserve to be on the CT. Deserving’s got fuck all to do with it, if you get the points then you’re in. The same goes for a world title. I know people struggle with that but I can assure you the competitors don’t.
Weak surfing isn’t progressive surfing.
I just watched Kanoa’s Bells heat and as I suspected the wave exposed his short comings (lack of power). For as much as people criticise Bells it takes a good surfer to win there.
He looked about as effective there as he did at Snapper.
Way, way undercooked.
The QS is broken.
Thank you.
And he had an easy run at Snapper, Stu couldn’t have been given a harder path.
The QS is broken because it has become a tool for the backers of surfers to fund their way onto the CT.
Yes. Yes he was.
You tell us.
They wouldn’t be getting beaten by lessor surfers because they would be surfing better waves. I’d have 16 on tour, maybe make 4 of them wild cards that you know should be there, surfing’s subjective so no harm in deciding who deserves to be there any way.
Ok maybe not, I didn’t realise it was a 6 star.
I guess it depends on how many enter, round 1 had a lot of guys I’ve never heard of in it.
Halve the amount on tour, 2 day contests.
Fill in the entry and pay a fee?
You could probably enter the Australian Open of surfing though.
I hope you buy a pair of Kanoa signature boardshorts to match your official WSL Kanoa T shirt just so Quiksilver can feel good about their investment.
Ok.
Don’t know but he has always been thought of as a potential World Champion not just making up the numbers.
We are told they are the best surfers in the world, but are they really?
Why doesn’t the WSL let them surf in unsanctioned contests? Is it so we don’t see the best surfers in the world getting beaten by a plumber? Would this happen to Djokovich or Federer?
I’ve never been Mick’s number one fan but there is no denying he surfs beautifully, perhaps it is easier to appreciate Micks surfing in real life, Mick is ten times the surfer Kanoa is, yes Mick has the winning formula down but outside of a contest he surfs fucking good.
My brother watched that heat on the beach and said he surfed terribly.