Despite the hype and celebration Wednesday afternoon, Kelly Slater did not clinch his 11th world surfing title with a third-round triumph during the Rip Curl Pro Search in San Francisco, but he can do so with a heat victory in the fourth round when the contest resumes.

Australia's Owen Wright still has a very slim chance of overtaking Slater.

The Assn. of Surfing Professionals, in a monumentally embarrassing screw-up, incorrectly figured the mathematics before stating in a news release before Wednesday's third-round heats that Slater would clinch the championship with a heat triumph over Australia's Daniel Ross.

Slater won the heat and was proclaimed champion, complete with a champagne shower, and reported by some to be one of the world's greatest athletes of any sport. (Slater, 39, has essentially dominated the ASP World Tour since winning his first title at age 20.)

But on Friday, Slater, who learned of the mistake from a fan on the Internet, confirmed the news in a Tweet: "I'm not joking. I have not won the world title yet. I still have to win another heat! Give those shirts and hats back!"

The ASP subsequently acknowledged the goof, which was made by computers figuring tie-breaking scenarios, and early Friday afternoon issued a statement apologizing for the error. The Rip Curl event has been on hold since Wednesday and Slater now will have to prevail in his fourth-round heat, against Brazil's Gabriel Medina and Miguel Pupo, to clinch the title.

The contest could resume as early as Sunday and here's the new scenario involving Slater in his pursuit for an 11th title:

-- If he gets another heat win in San Francisco, he'll clinch the title.
-- If he fails to win another heat in San Francisco, Wright must win the event to send the race to the 11th and final contest to Hawaii.
-- If the race goes to Hawaii, Slater must win one heat to earn the title. If he doesn't advance through a heat in Hawaii, Wright must also win that contest to stay in the race.
-- If Slater fails to advance out of another heat this season, and Wright wins in San Francisco and Pipeline, the two will be tied and the 2011 ASP World Title will be decided in a "Surf Off."

In other words, Slater should just keep the trophy because it'll be his soon enough.

-- Image shows Kelly Slater accepting a trophy for winning an 11th ASP World Tour title, before learning he has yet to actually clinch the title. Credit: ASP/Kirstin

After another incredible day of surfing in Portugal Kelly Slater is one step closer to winning his almost-unfair 11th World Surfing Title.

On the final day of competition Supertubos delivered the goods, with deep barrel riding the theme of the day, and some incredible showdowns.

Thanks to Europe's surplus of daylight, the event was wrapped up in just under three days.

After Slater got past Taj Burrow in the semifinal with another last-minute 10 point ride, he looked poised to take his third victory in the last five tries.

But the fire in Brazilian Adriano De Souza's belly was red hot, and he came out blazing in the final with a 9.0, and he held on to take an impressive victory over the seemingly unstoppable Slater.

As usual, Slater was amassing inhuman heat totals in his heats leading up to the final: 19.50, 18.70, 19.30. But Slater's wave magnetism seemed to disappear in the final. Meanwhile, Adriano made his way into the final by way of some razor thin margins of victory, including the final which was decided by .95.

Now, with only San Francisco and Pipeline left to go and a 12,500 point lead, it would take an absolute act of King Triton himself to topple Kelly's title hopes. Should he finish ninth or better in the next event he would mathematically clinch world title number 11.

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING FINAL RESULTS:
1 - Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.67
2 - Kelly Slater (USA) 14.73

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.50 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.87
SF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.83 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.03

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.94 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.50
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.70 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 7.67
QF 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.60 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.53
QF 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.10 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.60

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING HEAT 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 6.83 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 3.50
Heat 2: Heitor Alves (BRA) 15.40 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.74
Heat 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) 18.93 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 17.96
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.44 def. John John Florence (HAW) 17.06

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.13, Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.70, Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.10
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.30, Heitor Alves (BRA) 17.20, Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.40
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.30, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.64, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.67
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.00, John John Florence (HAW) 17.84, Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.10

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 11.60 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 8.10
Heat 10: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.56 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.30
Heat 11: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.27 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.54
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 17.33 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 16.96

ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (after Rip Curl Pro Portugal)
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 58,150 pts
2. Owen Wright (AUS) 45,650 pts
3. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 42,450 pts
4. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 41,100 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 40,950 pts

If anyone here is opposed to Kelly Slater winning his eleventh world title this year, you should probably just leave the room, then leave this planet, and never come back.

Kelly was able to win his 3-man Round Four heat today, after a massive fog bank squatted down onto the beach all morning, causing an incredibly annoying delay for hours. The waves were good once the air cleared though, and La Graviere offered up overhead peaks and light winds. The heat win was not an easy one for Kelly, with Gabe Medina nipping his heels and nearly getting him in the end. Kelly's margin of victory was 0.03 points.

Owen seemed to be a bit off all day, losing his Round Four heat in uncharacteristic fashion, then squandered opportunities and lost to Jordy in Round Five. To his credit, Jordy surfed very well, but he is still carrying a mcrib-injury and the in-form Owen of late should have had no trouble getting past him. Owen must now focus on Portugal which starts next week, and pray that Kelly loses tomorrow.

With his heat win today, Kelly has booked another spot in the quarterfinals, and locked in a guaranteed keeper of a result. This is crucial for Kelly, as he already has his two throwaway results, a 13th in Brazil and a no-show in Africa. He will now face Gabriel Medina once again in Quarterfinal Two, and with a dying swell, look for Medina to be in his element, small peaky beachbreak. You can bet Owen will be pulling for Gabe in that one.

If you were a betting man, you'd be foolish not to put your money on Ke11y at this point. Sure there's a lot that can happen between now and December, like say a martian attack or asteroid, but beyond that Kelly has every conceivable advantage at this point. A huge ratings lead, the experience, the backing. In fact, the only possible edge anyone could have on him would be age. Kelly is almost forty, but has apparently figured out a way to avoid aging. The guy is not only keeping up with the kids and their tricks, he's doing them bigger and doing them under pressure. Remember his 10 against Taj in New York?

Today the question is still "Who will win the title?", for now, but a few more heat wins for Kelly and that question will quickly become "When will Kelly win the title?".

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Michel Bourez (PYF) 14.57, Taylor Knox (USA) 11.17, Jeremy Flores (FRA) N/S
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.83, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.80, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 7.83
Heat 3: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 13.10, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.10, Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.03
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.43, Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.13, Owen Wright (AUS) 11.10

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taylor Knox (USA) 13.50 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.53
Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) Advances Over Jeremy Flores (FRA) *Flores withdraws due to ankle injury sustained in Round 3 of competition.
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.74 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 10.53
Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.16 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.86

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Gabriel Medina (BRA)
QF 3: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
QF 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Julian Wilson (AUS)

With a diminishing swell in the water, and a more promising forecast on paper, the call was made for a lay-day at the Quik Pro France and re-assess conditions in the morning, which if you're on the west coast, is around 11 pm tonight(!).

Round 3 was dusted yesterday, setting up the much anticipated no-losers round 4 heats. With 3 surfers, no priority, and a second chance round 5 for the the runners up, this round has produced some electric surfing out of the boys this year.

Kelly and Owen are still in the event, and poised at opposite sides of the draw once again. Taj is the only title contender still alive, this is looking like a two-horse race down the stretch here...

Below are the days highlights from the event so far.

When Kelly Slater won his first world title in 1992, Owen Wright was still learning how to walk. Today, 21-year-old Wright is the latest in a long line of world title rivals that 39-year-old Slater has had to face over the years. Wright is proving a formidable threat after making three finals in a row.

At the Quiksilver Pro in France both surfers opened up about their appreciation for the other. Slater is thoroughly enjoying the latest challenge, while Wright is making the most of his time on center stage with his childhood hero. All this begs the question...can we really call this a rivalry?