Kai Barger wins 2009 Oakley Pro Jr

Maui boy Kai Barger won the 2009 Oakley Pro Jr at Trestles, California. Kai destroyed the competition scoring a 8.83 and 9.77 in the finals. Kai's signature backhand attack completely overpowered Davey Cathels 2nd, Dillon Perillo 3rd and Kiron Jabor 4th and for his victory, Kai took home $2500.00 and 1500 tour points. Kai was able to enjoy his victory with the Maui entourage of Matt Meola, Billy Kemper, Monyca Byrn-Wicky, Hank Gaskell and Ola Eleogram.

This prestigious victory confirms to the world that Kai is the true Jr world champion. Going into this event there was a lot of pressure on Kai to produce results, this victory has proven to the world that he is the real deal. Kai was a long time student of Matt's professional coaching program.

Monyca Byrne-Wickey #17 Surfer Magazine HOT 100

Kazuma Girl, Monyca Byrne-Wickey Came in at #17 on the Surfer Magazine HOT 100 list. Mini Kazuma grom, Imai Devault ranks #14 on the prestigious list.

Kazuma students who also ranked were Kai Barger #7, Granger Larson #11, Clay Marzo #6, Dusty Payne #3 and Albee Layer #52.

Kai Barger (HAW), 19, has won the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships

Matt Kazuma Kinoshita has been training Kai Barger since he is 9 years old !.
The results are coming now ! Congrats to both of you guys !

NORTH NARRABEEN, Australia (Wednesday, January 7, 2009) – Kai Barger (HAW), 19, has won the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, defeating fellow Finalist Jadson Andre (BRA), 20, to claim the ASP World Junior Title.

“I’m as high as Saturn’s kite baby!” Barger said. “Out of all the incredible surfers in this event, like Dusty (Payne) and Granger (Larsen) and Julian (Wilson), I probably had the least amount of confidence, but I guess this goes to show that every dog has his day and today’s mine!”

While Andre opened up the Final with two strong scores, Barger quickly rallied, grabbing a 6.67 before usurping the Brazilian with an explosive 8.67 for a series of forehand blasts on the Narrabeen lefthanders. The Hawaiian’s 15.34 out of a possible 20 would prove too much for Andre to overtake and would see Barger crowned the newest ASP World Junior Champion.

“To be honest, I can’t remember much of the Final with all the cameras and everything,” Barger said. “It’s a blur. I had so much fun. I’m tripping out right now. I never thought this would happen to me.”

Barger now joins one of the most prestigious clubs in professional surfing with his ASP World Junior Title. Past champions include Dream Tour stalwarts such as Joel Parkinson (AUS), 27, Jordy Smith (ZAF), 20, Adriano de Souza (BRA), 21, and fellow Hawaiian’s Kekoa Bacalso (HAW), 23, and three-time ASP World Champion Andy Irons (HAW), 30.

“To be part of such a crazy group of surfers feels amazing,” Barger said. “I really don’t have the words to express how it feels. It’s crazy, and to be given the preferred seed on the ’QS is going to help so much.”

In addition to the prestigious ASP World Junior Title, Barger is also awarded preferred seeding into all ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) events in 2009 – a great advantage in the qualification quest for the elite ASP World Tour.

Andre, the No. 1 seed in the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, put in an incredible performance at North Narrabeen today, including his acquisition of the event’s only perfect 10, but was unable to overtake Barger in the Final.

“I’m really happy with this result,” Andre said. “Second is amazing, but I would have loved to of won. For like 10 minutes, no waves came and I couldn’t get the score. I hope to have a great year on the ASP WQS and qualify for the Dream Tour.”

Tanner Gudauskas (USA), 20, equal 3rd place finisher, put in sensational performances on his forehand today, scalping Alejo Muniz (BRA), 18, and a red-hot Tamaroa McComb (PYF), 16, before falling to Andre and the Brazilian’s perfect 10 in the Semifinal. Tying last year’s equal 3rd place finish, Gudauskas puts the icing on his esteemed ASP Pro Junior career and will join his brothers on the ASP WQS in his quest for ASP Dream Tour qualification.

“I’m doing the ASP WQS this year again with my brothers,” Gudauskas said. “It’s a great start to the year even though I didn’t better the 3rd I got last year. It’s my last year as a junior is it’s into the big ocean for me now.”

Marc Lacomare (FRA), 18, carried the ASP European flag as far as possible today, taking down Jayke Sharp (AUS), 20, and Maxime Huscenot (REU), 16, before falling to Barger in the Semifinals. Despite failing to reach the Final, Lacomare’s equal 3rd place finish at Narrabeen still earned him the preferred seeding into several ASP WQS events in 2009.

“I’m going to stay in Australia for one month and do a few Pro Juniors in Queensland and then maybe some ASP WQS here as well,” Lacomare said. “I may be able to get the wildcard because I think Jadson (Andre) and Tanner (Gudauskas) may not need it so it is handed down to me. So I’m not exactly sure what is going on for me this year.”

Both Barger and Pauline Ado (FRA), 16, who claimed the ASP World Junior Women’s Title yesterday, will be honored at this year’s ASP Banquet in February alongside the likes of nine-time ASP World Tour Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 36, two-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 20, amongst others.

Highlights from today’s Billabong ASP World Junior Championships will be available via www.billabongpro.com with Heats on Demand available in the VIDEO section.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

BILLABONG ASP WORLD JUNIORS (MEN) FINAL:
1 – Kai Barger (HAW) 15.34
2 – Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.67

BILLABONG ASP WORLD JUNIORS (MEN) SEMIFINALS:
SF 1: Jadson Andre (BRA) 18.00 def. Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 14.34
SF 2: Kai Barger (HAW) 16.73 def. Marc Lacomare (FRA) 8.84

BILLABONG ASP WORLD JUNIORS (MEN) QUARTERFINALS:
QF 1: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 17.23 def. Tamaroa McComb (PYF) 14.50
QF 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 18.30 def. Kiron Jabour (HAW) 12.60
QF 3: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 14.00 def. Maxime Huscenot (REU) 13.77
QF 4: Kai Barger (HAW) 17.60 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.16

BILLABONG ASP WORLD JUNIORS (MEN) ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Tamaroa McComb (PYF) 13.17 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 8.57
Heat 2: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 14.60 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 11.33
Heat 3: Kiron Jabour (HAW) 13.16 def. Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 12.16
Heat 4: Jadson Andre (BRA) 16.50 def. Granger Larsen (HAW) 14.17
Heat 5: Maxime Huscenot (REU) 13.00 def. Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 9.53
Heat 6: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 12.83 def. Jayke Sharp (AUS) 10.50
Heat 7: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 17.83 def. Nat Young (USA) 10.17
Heat 8: Kai Barger (HAW) 14.46 def. Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 14.00

ASP REGIONAL POINTS BREAKDOWN:
1 – Hawaii 2,752 points
2 – Australasia 2,664 points
3 – South America 2,642 points
4 – Europe 2,428 points
5 – North America 2,296 points
6 – Africa 1,455 points
7 – Japan 900 points

Kai Barger Wins Macy's E-Series Pro Junior in Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii (August 18, 2008) - Maui’s Kai Barger, 18, of Haiku, scored the first major ASP Pro Junior victory of his career at Waikiki Beach today in the $5,000 Macy’s E-Series Pro Junior presented by ASP Hawaii.

Against an all-star lineup of Hawaii’s hottest juniors, Barger surfed through five rounds to take the honors, winning $2,000 and accounting for top names the likes of Clay Marzo (Maui), Casey Brown (Big Island), and Ha’a Aikau (Oahu) along the way.

Second place today was Sebastian Zietz (Kilauea, Kauai), 20 third was 15-year-old Keanu Asing (Ewa, Oahu) and fourth was Albee Layer (Haiku, Maui).

Surf for this one-day event was highly contestable in the two-to-three foot (1.5 metre) range. However, the afternoon’s high tide brought with it inconsistent conditions that emphasized the importance of a solid start to the 30-minute final. Just 13 waves total were ridden during the final heat all but one were posted in the first 15 minutes before the high tide slowed conditions to a virtual standstill.

With so little surf on offer for the all-important heat of the day and with the carbon copy wave nature of the Queen’s surf break, the playing field was so level and the calibre of surfers so close that the win came down to a countback between Barger and Zietz. In the end, Barger won with 12.5 points out of 20 (individiual wave scores of 7.25 and 5.25) to Zietz’s 11.9 (7.5 and 4.4).

The critical edge turned out to be Barger’s more vertical backhand attack over that of his three regular-footed rivals.

"The thought of winning a pro junior for me was a dream," said Barger. "I’ve never made a pro junior final. I’ve watched all my friends win, and finally... I’ve been hurting for one. I think I might have had the slight advantage being backside. When it’s so small, you can kind of just throw it up there and it might look a little better to the judges. I was surprized, actually. I thought I didn’t win."

The Macy’s E-Series Pro Junior is one of three ASP Pro Junior events to be held in Hawaii this year and is a qualifier for the prestigious Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January of 2009.

The Macy’s E-Series Pro Junior was the third and final event of the 2008 Macy’s E-Series, staged this summer. The first two events were ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS)1-Star events as part of the ASP World Tour.

ASP Hawaii and Macy’s collaborated to produce the Macy’s E-Series, giving Hawaii’s pro surfing community a much needed opportunity to win valuable ASP ratings points and prize money at home breaks.

Kai Barger, NSSA nationals warm up session

Kai Barger was simply the most dominate surfer in the lineup at Salt Creek. His warm up session for the 2008 NSSA Nationals was nearly flawless and if he surfs anywhere like this in the contest, he is sure to win.

Kai Barger pics

Kai Barger is one of the most talented surfers that I have ever coached. My coaching/shaping relationship started 10 years ago and I have never seen a young kid with surf flawless technique. Kai has had a perfect career so far so I decided to train my son Chaz in the identical way. So far it is working. Kai is the surfer that we designed the Milkman Jr for. 10 years later, it is still the ultimate technique training board. Kai now has several signature Kazuma Models that will stand the test of time, just like his Milkman Jr.

Kai Barger, Surfer Mag