After three years out Paige Hareb is back living the Dream
As soon as the heat finished I just balled my eyes out.
Paige Hareb
Kiwi surfer Paige Hareb has unofficially secured her spot on the World Surf League Championship Tour (CT) for 2018 with a fifthplaced finish at the QS6000 Port Stephens New South Wales Pro.
Heading into the event sitting ninth on the qualifying series (QS) ladder, Hareb’s result saw her maintain her position in the overall standings and she will take the final qualifying spot for next year’s tour.
While the top six on the QS ladder are guaranteed to qualify, if a surfer also requalifies with a top 10 finish on the CT, the next-best surfer on the QS takes the open spot.
After being eliminated by eventual winner Johanne Defay of France in the quarterfinals, Hareb’s fate was in the hands of Hawaiian Tatiana Weston-Webb.
Only one surfer could knock Hareb, who was last on the CT in 2014, down the ladder on finals day - current junior world champion Macy Callaghan of Australia who needed to make the final to do so.
The young Australian made it to the semifinals and needed to knock over current CT competitor Weston-Webb to progress. The Hawaiian made a strong start to leave Callaghan in a combination situation for much of the heat.
With three minutes to go and needing a 7.50 to take the lead, Callaghan had a ride which looked like it would be close to the score.
However, she scored a 6.90 and wasn’t able to find another big score to advance.
‘‘I was watching that heat with my mum and to be honest I thought Macy had gotten the score with that ride. But that was the longest five minutes of my life,’’ Hareb said.
‘‘As soon as the heat finished I just bawled my eyes out. It’s been three years of hard work but I’ve achieved my dream.’’
Hareb’s spot on tour won’t be confirmed until after the final CT event of the year, in Hawaii later this month. However, both Defay and American Sage Erickson will secure a top 10 CT finish and won’t need their qualification spots, while Keely Andrew of Australia, Weston-Webb and Brazilian Silvana Lima look to fight for the final spot.
Lima and Weston-Webb have direct qualification on the QS ladder, so should either of them overtake Andrew, two QS posts would open up, with Andrew and Hareb claiming them.
If Andrew remains 10th on the CT, Hareb claims the QS spot vacated by Defay.
‘‘It’s not officially confirmed yet so I’m trying not to let myself get too excited,’’ Hareb said. ‘‘But my parent were crunching the numbers all week here and we knew what the situation was for that semifinal.’’
Qualification spots on both the CT and QS will be confirmed on December 7 (NZ time).
Final World Surf League qualifying series standings
1. Johanne Defay* (France) 17,200 2. Tatiana Weston-Webb (Hawaii) - 16,000 3. Silvana Lima (Brazil) - 15,300 4. Bronte Macaulay (Australia) - 14,900 5. Coco Ho (Hawaii) - 14,700 6. Caroline Marks (United States) - 13,430 7. Sage Erickson* (United States) - 13,350 8. Keely Andrew* (Australia) - 13050
9. Paige Hareb (New Zealand) 12100
* Currently in the top 10 on the Championship Tour