Categorized | Featured, Sports, Surfing

Lenny earns 2010 Stand Up World Tour title

2010 world champion Kai Lenny (Photo courtesy of Stand Up World Tour)

MEDIA RELEASE

It is official: Kai Lenny is the 2010 World Champion on the Stand Up World Tour. After an epic final event win, 18-year-old Kai Lenny makes history with a win here at Honolii, making him the first ever World Champion and announcing to the world his coming of age!

The conditions Wednesday at Honolii were testing, small, unpredictable surf was the order of the day, but the athletes on the Stand Up World Tour had no problem in stepping up to the plate and showing the world what they are made of.

There were so many great stories from this event, but one of the greatest highlights was certainly the sheer quantity of talented young kids pushing the limits and making their presence felt alongside the established big names of the sport and ocean sports in general.

In particular, Bern’d Roedigger seemed unstoppable in the first round, as did Mo Freitas and Ulu Boi Napeahi. Ridge Lenny also made his presence felt at just 13 years of age, clearly demonstrating he has a great future ahead of him.

As the rounds progressed however, it came down to the real business, as the key players made themselves known – Leco Salazar put on an impressive display of high performance riding, reminiscent of his win in Brazil earlier this year.

As did Antoine Delpero, linking more traditional longboard maneuvers with progressive carves, while Duane DeSoto and Robin Johnston showed great form in the tricky conditions at Honolii.

The Big Island was represented incredibly well by its athletes, with Kainoa Hauanio showing early promise and Ikaika Kalama taking it all the way to the final.

Peyo Lizarazu fought a valid fight to stay in contention, but bowed out in the quarter finals under the might of Leco Salazar and Robin Johnston, having to settle for 9th place in the event and 2nd place overall for 2010.

That was the moment that all the hard work and dedication paid off for the young Kai Lenny and that his dream had become a reality – Kai was now champion of the world, and nothing was going to stop him.

As the finals got underway, it became clear the world title was not enough for the young champion, he needed the event win too – with two high scoring waves under his belt early on, Kai was able to relax, while the remaining finalists scratched around to find waves that might match Kai’s performance, but to no avail.

In the final, Kai stepped into a league of his own and won the Hawaii Finals in epic fashion, much to the delight of his family and friends who waited on the beach to share this special moment.

The official crowning of the World Champion for 2010 is Saturday at the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort and be marked with a cultural celebration and luau to close the event in the right way.

An Ocean Festival in Hilo Bay will also take place this weekend, with an expo, Na Kama Kai youth clinics, team and solo races, live music and much more.

All that remains to be said, is a big congratulations to Kai Lenny and all those who participated in the 2010 Stand Up World Tour and we are already looking forward to the 2011 Tour that will be bigger, better and in more places than ever before!

Thanks to our sponsors: the County of Hawaii, Hulakai, Steinlager, Naniloa Volcanoes Resort, Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Go Mokulele, the Big Island Visitors Bureau, KWXX / B97&93 and Imiloa Planetarium.

— Find out more:
http://standupworldtour.com

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.