<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hareb leads New Zealand’s strongest team entered in the event in over a decade. She is joined by <strong>Ella Williams</strong> (WGM) in the Women’s Division while <strong>Ricardo Christie </strong>(Gis), <strong>Billy Stairmand</strong> (Rag) and <strong>Kehu Butler</strong> (Mnt) will compete in the Men’s Division. All six surfers will be looking toward the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for which the World Surfing Games will become a significant qualification pathway from next year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The <strong>World Surfing Games</strong> are being held at Tahara Beach, Japan from the 15 – 22 September. Approximately 250 athletes from fifty countries are expected to attend the event this year. It is the first year that the event features an even mix of male and female athletes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All six Kiwi surfers have extensive experience competing around the globe on the World Qualifying Series with Hareb and Christie both having competed at World Tour level.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hareb missed the last two World Surfing Games events but finished eighth in 2015, the same year Williams secured her best ever result at the event finishing third overall. Williams has been part of the team on five occasions including 2017 where she was the highest ranked Kiwi finishing seventh overall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mount Maunganui’s <strong>Raiha Ensor</strong> is the youngest of the female surfers and at 18 years of age, Ensor is spending her first year at Waikato University where she secured a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship. Ensor has been part of the team for the past two years. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It will be the first time that Ricardo Christie and Kehu Butler will compete at the event, both surfers having only contested the ISA World Junior Championships previously.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">29-year-old Christie’s has been primarily focussed on qualifying for the WSL World Tour, a feat he achieved in 2014. He spent 2015 contesting both tours before being relegated back to the World Qualifying Series in 2016.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the opposite end of the spectrum is 18-year-old Butler who is contesting his final year of junior events. Butler currently sits in fourth on the WSL Australasian Pro Junior Series with three events remaining this year. Butler has been part of the New Zealand Junior Surfing Team for the past four years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rounding out the men’s team is Raglan’s Billy Stairmand, winner of the most recently contested Rip Curl Pro held at Raglan at the start of the month. Stairmand makes a return to the New Zealand Team after missing the 2017 event in France. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Kiwi team will be competing in a number of international events between now and September with several athletes travelling to Japan directly from Europe where they will be competing in the World Qualifying Series.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Athletes will use the recently established Mount Maunganui based high performance camps in preparation for the World Surfing Games. The first camp was staged in April with 30 aspiring athletes in attendance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In home waters, France trounced the world in 2017 taking the gold medal over Portugal and Spain. New Zealand placed 14th overall. From 2019, the World Surfing Games becomes compulsory for all surfers aspiring to go to Tokyo 2020. Therefore we can expect the powerhouse nations of Australia, USA and Brazil to climb back up the rankings and vie for podium finishes over the next three years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 2018 New Zealand Surfing Team is as follows:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Open Men</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Billy Stairmand (Raglan)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kehu Butler <strong> </strong>(Mount Maunganui)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ricardo Christie <strong> </strong>(Gisborne)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reserve – Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Open Women</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ella Williams (Whangamata)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Paige Hareb <strong> </strong>(Taranaki)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Raiha Ensor <strong> </strong>(Mount Maunganui)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reserve – Elin Tawharu <strong> </strong>(Mount Maunganui)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The <strong>Olympic qualification process </strong>starts with the <strong>World Surf Leagu</strong><strong>e </strong>(WSL) where ten males and 8 females on the 2019 World Tour will directly qualify for Tokyo 2020. No more than two athletes per nation can qualify via this process.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2018 marks the lead-in to Olympic qualification via the <strong>International Surfing Association</strong> (ISA) World Surfing Games. A good team result in 2018 will set up nations with a good seed for their first qualification attempt at the 2019 World Surfing Games. The top ranked male and female from the Oceania Region at the 2019 event will qualify for Tokyo 2020. The selections will then need to be ratified by the New Zealand Olympic Committee before being confirmed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Athletes have a further chance to qualify for the Olympics at the 2020 ISA World Surfing Games where the final four males and six females in each division will be determined by the top placing athletes at that event. View the full Olympic qualification system <strong><a href="http://www.isasurf.org/tokyo-2020-qualification/" target="_blank">here</a></strong>.</div>