HOMETOWN surfing bets John Mark “Marama” Tokong and Rogelio “Jay-r” Esquivel ruled their respective events over the weekend in the 2024 World Surf League-La Union International Pro series at the Urbiztondo Beach in San Juan, La Union.
Inspired by the hometown crowd, Tokong scored his second season win with a tally of 17.90 points out of a possible 20, the highest in the heats, to rule the shortboard division by a slim margin over Swede Kian Marin in the men’s qualifying series 3000 for the opening event of the year.
“This is crazy. I don’t know. I’m so happy, more than happy,” said Tokong of his sixth QS victory in front of friends and relatives.
Not to be outdone, Esquivel was also in a class of his own, scoring 18.00 out of 20 points for his best heat in topping the men’s long longboard qualifying series in overcoming the waves of the beach town.
He stunned Japanese Kai Hamase, the current No. 1 in the LQS rankings, who had earlier beaten Jomarie Ebueza in the semifinals.
“I am so happy to win this event. It was great to see everyone supporting us here. Everyone was here,” noted Esquivel, whose initial win in the 2023 La Union International Pro marked him as one of the local surfers to watch.
