FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaiian Style Kewalos Kup winner Kekoa Uemura went through the inside section yesterday outside Kewalo Basin.
Uemura adds perfect
score to perfect daySon of legend takes home
Kewalos Kup after scoring a 10
There is only so much happiness a heart can handle before it reaches the bursting point. China Uemura knows.
A day after his daughter Kanoe gave birth to his first grandson, Kayde, China's son Kekoa Uemura captured the professional division of the 2003 Hawaiian Style Kewalos Kup at Kewalo Basin. It is the second event in the Steinlager series, the only professional longboarding series in Hawaii.
Uemura seemed to do no wrong in the final 30-minute heat and feasted on 4-foot waves with 8-foot faces. With 19 points, Uemura took home the first-place check for $600. He beat his closest competitor, Kekoa Auwae, by four points.
Kekoa's brother, Kamu Auwae, and Kaiolohia Sallas were also in the final. The surfers' best two waves out of a possible 15 rides were combined to form their final scores.
"It was unbelievable," China Uemura said. "The lowest score of his first five rides was 8.5. I had a feeling on the 10 but when they announced it, I had tears in my eyes."
You can't blame him for getting emotional. Kekoa Uemura's ride was dazzling. He combined all the high-scoring elements -- a nose-ride takeoff, a stalled barrel and a helicopter 360 -- on a wave he wasn't sure was going to break.
"At first I didn't think it was going to peak," Kekoa Uemura, 20, said. "It wasn't one of the bigger sets that came through but it lined up good and I did a nose on the outside. I got barreled somehow and then I did a couple of turns on the inside. I did a helicopter on the inside. Luckily, it all matched up good."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kekoa Uemura was congratulated by Nick Mita as Uemura came out of the water after the final heat yesterday.
It wasn't just about luck. It was patience too. With three minutes left in the heat, Uemura was the third to take off during one set and it paid off as he caught the biggest wave of the set and rode through another barrel.
"I tried to wait. Lately, there has been good waves later in the set," said the 2000 Kalani High School graduate. "Luck does play a part in it. You got to get those waves. You have to be in the right position at the right time, and I just lucked out."
The other finalists weren't feeling so lucky after Uemura's 10, which came in the first half of the heat. After that, the Auwaes and Sallas knew they were contending for second which Sallas owned until the final minute of the contest.
Kekoa Auwae made a charge and caught a wave in the 29th minute of the heat. He barreled right, grabbed rail and earned an 8.5 for the wave. The score was enough to vault him past Sallas by a half point as Auwae earned a 6.5 earlier in the heat. Sallas posted a 7 and a 7.5 in his first two scoring waves and finished in third with 14.5.
"The whole contest, I was doing pretty good until the final," said Auwae, 18. "I just ended up waiting too much (in the final). I just paddled hard to the outside.
"The last 10 minutes, I felt like I was in fourth place already so I just figured go for anything.
"Barrels are a high score so I looked for any barrels. I felt like I was in fourth even with that wave. I wasn't too confident about my performance."
It would be hard to feel confident after Uemura's dominance. After the victory, Uemura dedicated the contest to his sister and new nephew, whom he visited at a hospital on Friday night.
"I'm stoked because my daughter just gave birth to my first grand-child yesterday," China Uemura said. "And when he was surfing out there, I called my daughter and said 'he's surfing now. He wants to win this one for you.'
"It's a blessing. I'm the happiest guy in the world. If a guy wins $5 million, I'm more happy than him."
Up next on Kekoa Uemura's schedule are Association of Surfing Professional events in Portugal, Spain and France. The ninth-ranked longboarder on the circuit will join Bonga Perkins in New York before heading out to Portugal.
