Hareb eyes quarterfinals

New Zealand's Paige Hareb is pushing for a quarterfinal berth at surfing's world qualifying series in Western Australia after the women's competition resumed at Margaret River today.

The men's title race took prominence until today where the women's field was culled from 24 to 12.

Hareb, in action for the first time since Tuesday, finished second in her heat to progress alongside Justine Dupont of France, who scored 12.40 points to the New Zealander's 10.66.

Hareb now needs to finish in the top two of her next three-member heat to make the quarterfinals. She is drawn against Australians Chelsea Hedges and Laura Enever. Although the event does not count towards the ASP world tour title it has attracted a high quality field because points still go towards the year-ending world rankings.

Hareb is currently in a seven-way share of ninth on the world tour after the opening round on the Gold Coast last week. The second round will be held at Victoria's Bells Beach from March 30 to April 5.