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King Kelly, step aside. Make room for King Kanoa.

Kanoa Igarashi competes during the third round of the US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach on Thursday. (Credit: Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)
Kanoa Igarashi competes during the third round of the US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach on Thursday. (Credit: Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

OK, so maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little. But only a little. Eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater is still on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour (CT) roster, but he’s 45 and likely is out for the season with a broken foot. So that crown may be weighing heavy on Slater’s bald head.

So really, it’s a perfect time to welcome some new royalty, and Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi could well be the man for the job.

Igarashi, 19, is in the middle of his second season on the CT and is currently ranked a modest 29th. But Sunday on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier may have marked a turning point for the surf prodigy.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.