Jayuard Alciso bested compatriot Toby Espejon, 11.64-8.90, in the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya men’s shortboard surfing bronze medal match on Tuesday at Long Beach Tahara in Japan.
It was an all-Filipino battle between two surfers who suffered heartbreaking defeats in the semifinals on Monday.
Alciso came out on top after scoring 6.67 on his first wave and 4.97 on his second, while Espejon posted 4.83 and 4.07, respectively.
Alciso dominated the early stages of the competition, defeating India’s Sivaraj Babu, 11.50-7.83, before beating Korea’s Heejae Palmiano, 10.76-7.24.
However, Alciso narrowly fell to Indonesia’s I Made Pajar Ariyana, 13.60-12.37, in the semifinals.
Espejon also impressed in the early rounds, dispatching Malaysia’s Lucas Santiago Wehle, 11.83-6.34, before defeating India’s Kishore Kumar Anbarasu, 8.53-5.37.
Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi, however, proved too strong in the semifinals, dominating Espejon, 18.33-5.83, in front of his home crowd.
