Surfing: Kiwis to square off in world first

Today's quarter-finals of the women's world surfing championship tour event off Taranaki will feature a classic hometown clash between touring professional Paige Hareb and New Zealand Open champion Sarah Mason.

Mason, 15, pulled off a colossal upset by eliminating Australian world champion Stephanie Gilmore in yesterday's third round.

Mason, with a last-gasp win, drew hoots and screams from a sizeable crowd at New Plymouth's Fitzroy Beach.

The fans' joy was doubled with Hareb overcoming Australian nemesis Rebecca Wood, setting up the quarter-final meeting with Mason, the first Kiwi-on-Kiwi bout in tour history.

The diminutive Mason, who grew up in Taranaki but is now based on Queensland's Gold Coast, received a wildcard invitation on the eve of the event and finished a fighting last in her first round heat on Tuesday.

She survived the subsequent elimination round to advance to yesterday's third round where few gave her a chance against Gilmore.

Needing a score of 6.56 on her final wave with two minutes remaining to catch three-time world champion Gilmore, tour debutant Mason managed 7.10 off a long ride that included two inside moves and finished with a sharp hook where she did well to remain on the board.

That pushed Mason's total to 14.03, pipping Gilmore's 13.66 and recording one of the biggest boilovers imaginable on the Dream Tour.

Quality waves deserted her until the final six minutes of the 30-minute heat, where she recorded her two scoring rides. By contrast, Gilmore did all her scoring early in the inconsistent 1-1.5m waves.

Gilmore had won the first two legs of this year's tour and yesterday's defeat was her first for nearly six months. The scale of the win wasn't lost on Mason.

"I'm buzzing right now, I couldn't really believe it could happen at the end of the heat," she said. "I was just waiting for a wave to come out there and get the score I needed. I've got heaps of confidence now going into the last heat."

She said crowd support was a massive boost throughout the heat, encouraging her to chase the decisive wave.

Gilmore was stunned by Mason's late charge. "I got an OK score but I guess I let my guard down and underestimated the little tucker," she said. "Right at the end there she got the score and good on her. To lose in the third round is hard to take, but it's all part of the deal I guess.

"This is going to open it up for the other girls to pick up some points and keep it interesting."

Hareb was less stressed in beating Woods, scoring 13.83 to 8.07 in a heat which the Taranaki local always led.

It was sweet revenge for Hareb, 19, who was eliminated by Woods at the same stage on the first two legs of the world championship in Australia.

The powerful goofy-footer utilised her local knowledge to capitalise on the trying conditions, picking off the running lefthanders and dissecting them with aplomb for an emphatic win over Woods. "It's challenging with the wind and the shifting line-up but definitely experience helped out there," Hareb said.

"I'm really stoked to get through that round. It's been a slow start to the year for me so to crack the quarter-finals at home in front of all my family and friends feels great and I hope I can make a run towards the final."

The quarter-finals will feature two New Zealanders, two Australians, two Hawaiians and two South Americans.

Red-hot Australian Sally Fitzgibbons was the top qualifier from the third round - as she was from the first round - with a score of 18.07 to outclass South African Rosanne Hodge.

Fitzgibbons' best wave score of 9.40 was the best of the event so far, pipping her first round effort of 9.33.

Hawaiian rookie Carissa Moore recorded an impressive 17.00 in ousting compatriot and world No 4 Coco Ho.

Other third-round winners were Hawaiian Melanie Bartels, Peru's Sofia Mulanovich, Australian Chelsea Hodges and Brazilian Silvana Lima.

Organisers will meet at 7am today to assess conditions for a start at 8am and hope to have a champion crowned at the end of the day.

QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

* Melanie Bartels (Hawaii) v Carissa Moore (Hawaii)
* Paige Hareb (NZ) v Sarah Mason (NZ)
* Sofia Mulanovich (Peru) v Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia)

- NZPA