Filipino surfer rules longboard tourney in Bali, qualifies to Worlds

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino Rogelio Esquivel Jr. topped the Padrol Longboard Classic — a World Surf League Longboard (WSL) Qualifying Series event — in Bali, Indonesia last Sunday to earn a historic spot to the 2023 WSL World Longboard Tour (WLT).

The victory was an added bonus to Esquivel, who had already secured a WLT berth after topping the rankings when his rival Taka Inoue of Japan got eliminated by France’s Roland Lefeuvre in the semifinals.

Esquivel got off to a good start, posting his first significant score of 7.17 for a Hang 5 to Hang 10 combination and finishing with a nice floater. Lefeuvre put up a 6.50 for some good nose riding on a righthander to take the lead briefly and threaten Esquivel. 

But the Filipino found an open lefthander and went straight to the nose to hold a long Hang 10 and finish cleanly, scoring an excellent 8.00 that was enough to secure the win.

“I’m so happy to win this event and get on the WLT, as there are so many surfers here like Roland and Augusto, and others from Japan, Indonesia, Korea, and of course the Philippines, that are so good,” said Esquivel.

The surfer bared that the sea conditions that time made the finals extra-tough.

“In this final it was really hard, as the tide was super low, and the water was knee-deep, so I decided to wait and choose the waves I thought would get me longer rides where I could finish with maybe a floater or something. Luckily I got a couple of chances, and could win the final,” he added. 

The victory made Esquivel the first Filipino to make it to the WLT, where he will get to test his mettle against the world’s top longboard surfers.

"Thank you so much to all the people that have supported me, so I can make this dream come true," he said.