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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 26, 2009

Asing wins national qualifier

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Keanu Asing of 'Ewa scored a perfect 10 in the open men's final of the NSSA Hawaiian Region Championships. He won the open men and open junior divisions.

BERNIE BAKER | Special to The Honolulu Advertiser

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Keanu Asing received a perfect sendoff to Ecuador this week.

Asing scored a perfect 10 en route to winning the prestigious open men's division at the NSSA Hawaiian Region Championships this week at Kewalo Basin.

Waves were in the 1- to 3-foot range during the three days of competition, and the event concluded with an awards banquet Tuesday night at the Hard Rock Cafe.

"Open men is the big one, the one everybody wants to win, so I'm stoked," said Asing, 15. "The waves were kind of small, but it was still pretty good. You could do a lot if you got the right ones."

Asing also won the open junior division.

The Hawaiian Region Championships was a qualifier for the NSSA National Championships at San Clemente, Calif., in June. The NSSA National Championships is considered one of the biggest events in the world for scholastic surfers.

"The nationals is a big deal," said Asing, a sophomore at Elite Element Academy. "There's a lot of people there watching. Hopefully we can all go up there and get the job done."

But first, Asing and 11 other Hawai'i surfers will compete at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship next week at Ecuador.

Alessa Quizon of Makaha won the open women and explorer women divisions. She and Asing were the only double winners.

At the awards banquet, Kalani David of Sunset Beach won the inaugural Koa Tree Ultimate Experience.

David, 11, wrote a 500-word essay on the values of surfing, school and community service.

The grand prize — donated by former NSSA national champion Kekoa Cazimero of Waimanalo — included two round-trip air tickets to California, hotel and rental car accommodations, a new surfboard, and passes for four to Disneyland.

"This means we can go as a family," said David David, Kalani's father. "This will be a forever memory for us."

Several other professional surfers donated prizes at the awards banquet, including surfboards and travel packages.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.