Marco Ventura (PHL) was one of four Filipino surfers to claim heats wins in the 2025 Baler International Pro QS 4000 Round of 64. Credit: WSL / Abdel Elecho
SABANG BEACH, Baler, Philippines (Tuesday, November 18, 2025) – Stunning conditions greeted competitors for day two of the Baler International Pro, a World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 4000 and Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) event. A glassy, rising one-to-two-foot swell offered opportunity for the longboard field in the morning, before QS action filled the afternoon. By day’s end, the men’s LQS Round of 32, women’s LQS Round of 16, and men’s QS Round of 64 was completed.
Of the eight women advancing to the LQS Quarterfinals, six have family members still in the mix. Mother-daughter duo Daisy Dela Torre (PHL) and Kaila Jane Dela Torre (PHL) posted the two highest heat totals of the round, while two sets of sisters, Mara and Ashlee Lopez (PHL), and Sakura and Kaede Inoue (JPN), also progressed. The Inoue sisters are the only family pair set to face each other in the Quarterfinals, while the Lopez sisters will each meet one of the Dela Torres. Defending event winner Natsumi Taoka (JPN) will take on the lone Indonesian in the draw, Dhea Novitasari (INA).
While the men’s LQS featured heat wins from each of the three regional representatives on the WSL Longboard Tour for 2025, Rogelio Jr Esquievel (PHL), Taka Inoue (JPN), and Jomarie Ebueza (PHL), it was Dhany Widianto (INA) who posted the highest heat total, 12.75 (out of a possible 20), and Roger Casogay (PHL), who earned the highest single-wave score, 7.25 (out of a possible 10). The two Quarterfinalists from 2024, Widianto and Casogay, are looking to push deeper into the draw this year in order to challenge for positions on the Longboard Tour in 2026.
Ebueza and Inoue were also able to progress through their QS Round of 64 heats to join Esquievel and Widianto in the Round of 32, as they each compete across divisions. It was another Inoue who found the best of the QS heats, however, Ryuichi Inoue (JPN), posting a 12.00 heat total, the highest of the round, which also included the highest single-wave score, a 7.00. Inoue was able to keep solid speed and flow as he connected three turns on the right, going against his initial plan of sticking to the left.
“At first, I was aiming for some left ones to just get two hits,” Inoue said. “Obviously, I’m not a small guy so I’m not really good at these small waves, but I actually was lucky to find that good one at first, and then be able to wait for the bigger ones. I was lucky to find that big right and get three hits. It was not my strategy, but yeah, I was happy to make that one.”
Half of the sixteen surfers to progress through the round were Filipino surfers, with half of those taking heat wins; Eduardo Alciso (PHL), Julius Isaguirre (PHL), Neil Sanchez (PHL), and Marco Ventura (PHL). 25-year-old Alciso posted the highest numbers of the local contingent, delivering a 6.25 for a sharp two-turn combo on his forehand.
“I was lucky in the first minute I got, on the left, four points I think,” Alciso said. “After that, if there were waves that had enough to move me or let me do one turn, I kept paddling and kept catching, because if you wait for the big one, there’s not really a big one, and if there is, it’s closing out. So I think that’s the best thing to do, keep moving, do one maneuver, and if you can do two, that’s the best.”
The 2025 Baler International Pro presented by Philippine Sports Commission is proudly supported by the Provincial Government of Baler, Aurora, Costa Pacifica and Senator Sonny Angara. Sponsored by PAGCOR, National Youth Commission, Kudosurf, Vissla, ASRAI, and SDMI Sports.
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