SAN JUAN, La Union: Local bet Rogelio “Jay-R” Esquivel Jr. defended his World Surf League (WSL) La Union International Pro LQS longboard crown at the Urbiztondo Beach, Monalisa Point here on Friday, January 26. Showing composure and mastery of surf breaks, Esquivel put on a show and scored 18 points to defeat Japanese Kai Hamase in the final. Esquivel scored 9.25 points for his best performance in his third wave and 8.75 during his sixth wave in the championship round, where he also displayed a couple of impressive tricks. On the other hand, Hamase‘s two best scores in the finals were 8.7 in his sixth wave and 7.85 in his second wave to tally 16.55 points.
![Local bet Rogelio 'Jay-R' Esquivel Jr. captured his second straight men's longboard title in the World Surf League La Union International Pro Men's LQS 1000 in his hometown at the Monalisa Point in San Juan, La Union, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO](https://www.manilatimes.net/manilatimes/uploads/images/2024/01/26/295307.jpg)
Local bet Rogelio ‘Jay-R’ Esquivel Jr. captured his second straight men’s longboard title in the World Surf League La Union International Pro Men’s LQS 1000 in his hometown at the Monalisa Point in San Juan, La Union, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO
![Local bet Rogelio 'Jay-R' Esquivel Jr. captured his second straight men's longboard title in the World Surf League La Union International Pro Men's LQS 1000 in his hometown at the Monalisa Point in San Juan, La Union, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO](https://www.manilatimes.net/manilatimes/uploads/images/2024/01/26/295308.jpg)
Local bet Rogelio ‘Jay-R’ Esquivel Jr. captured his second straight men’s longboard title in the World Surf League La Union International Pro Men’s LQS 1000 in his hometown at the Monalisa Point in San Juan, La Union, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO
“I’m happy that I won but it’s been a pleasure to compete against Hamase in the finals. He’s really one of the best surfers in Asia. As you can see the scores were virtually excellent. The waves are good, that’s why it was a good competition,” said Esquivel. “I’m really happy because WSL is here in La Union for the second straight year. I’m really happy because for sure the next generations of surfers here will be inspired because they’re seeing a lot of great surfers performing here. Hopefully, they can achieve more than we did.” Filipinos Jomarie Ebueza and Rico Dumagain jointly finished third in the competition. Esquivel’s conquest of the longboard competition made it a two-title affair for the Philippines after John Mark “Marama” Tokong ruled the shortboard category on Thursday. In the women’s category, meanwhile, Japanese Kaede Inoue emerged victorious as she defeated compatriot Hiroka Yoshikawa in the final. Daisy Valdez of the Philippines finished at joint third place with Nataumi Taoka of Japan.