KEY POINTS:
Taranaki teenager Paige Hareb has become the first New Zealander to make the professional women's surfing tour.
Hareb, 18, from Oakura, near New Plymouth, will join an elite group of 18 competing in the US$1 million ($1.91m) world championship series.
Australian Stephanie Gilmore, 20, retained the world title when she snatched victory in the final of the penultimate event in Hawaii yesterday.
Gisborne's Maz Quinn is the only other New Zealander to have surfed on the world professional circuit, competing in the 44-strong men's tour in 2001.
Hareb told the Taranaki Daily News from Hawaii yesterday she had been waiting for confirmation of a spot in the elite group for several weeks.
"I've been 90 per cent qualified for a while ... since I finished second in Rio in Brazil a couple of months ago," said Hareb who has been competing in the world qualifying series.
Hareb will get a taste of life among the elite next week after receiving a wildcard entry for the last pro event of the year in Maui, Hawaii, next week.
"It will be good to compete at that level and will give me a taste of what to expect next year."
After a break for the festive season, Hareb tunes up in the new year at the world juniors (under-20) championships in Sydney in which she finished second this year.
The eight-leg women's world series begins with back to back events in Australia, on the Gold Coast in February and Bells Beach in Victoria in March.
Other legs are scheduled for Brazil, Peru and Hawaii.
To maintain her status, Hareb will need to finish in the top 12.
The bottom six of the Dream Tour are replaced by the top six from a qualifying series.
- NZPA
