UPDATE - 8.45am: Lumpy, two-foot waves have led officials to call a lay day at the women's world surfing championship tour event in Taranaki today.
Rising New Zealand star Sarah Mason snatched the limelight from compatriot Paige Hareb as the third leg of the women's world surfing championship tour began off the coast of Taranaki yesterday.
Mason, 15, made a stunning debut on the Dream Tour after receiving a wild card invitation. She surprised observers by qualifying for the last 16 after two impressive outings on a remote beach south of New Plymouth.
Hareb is also through to the third round, advancing automatically after an impressive first heat performance which featured a brilliant one-wave score of 9.0 out of 10.
However, it was national champion Mason who showed maturity beyond her years after earning entry by winning a pro junior event off New Plymouth on Monday.
She wasn't overwhelmed by being drawn in the first round against three-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore of Australia, taking the early lead with her first wave score of 6.67.
She still led at the halfway point of the half-hour heat but struggled to match her early effort and her total score of 11.34 - based on her two best scoring waves - was passed in the closing stages by Gilmore (14.40) and Hawaii's Carissa Moore (13.90).
Mason was even better in the repechage round, producing the third best score of the day by anyone with a 14.83-point performance which eclipsed Brazilian Bruna Schmitz and Australian Claire Bevilacqua.
"The wind was blowing in your face so it was really tricky conditions and you just had to read the wave right," a beaming Mason said.
"This is pretty big for me. I was really excited coming into this. Just to get the opportunity is a really good experience."
Mason was vaguely aware she held the lead on world champion Gilmore late in their first heat but didn't let it affect her.
"It was really hard to hear [the scores]. I had a faint idea and it was cool to be leading for a little bit."
A quirk of the draw saw Mason handed another crack at Gilmore, with the pair drawn together for today's third round, which begins the knockout phase of the competition.
Hareb will square off against classy Australian Rebecca Woods and will hope local knowledge can carry her beyond the third round, where she has faltered in each of the first two legs of this year's world tour in Australia.
The 19-year-old from Oakura was the fourth-highest qualifier of the 12 surfers to advance directly to the third round with a score of 14.27.
The top qualifier was world No 5 Australian Sally Fitzgibbons, who won the final heat with an overall score of 17.26 points, made up of her two best wave scores of 9.33 and 7.93. That beat the 15.30 of Hawaii's Coco Ho and Gilmore.
Hareb's effort included a brilliant wave score of 9.00 which was second only to Fitzgibbons' best wave effort and featured some exciting backhand moves in fast-breaking right hand waves. Two of the five judges marked it 9.50 out of 10.
It was enough to see off her heat rivals, Melanie Bartels of Hawaii and Lee Ann Curren of France, who recorded 12.43 and 7.40 respectively.
- NZPA
