New Zealand surfers Billy Stairmand and Ella Williams have both advanced to the third round of the Olympic competition after impressive performances in the opening heats.
Seeded 19th out of 20, Williams surprised the field by placing second in her heat and advancing straight to to the third round tomorrow.
Williams scored 9.70 to narrowly finish above 12th seed Leilani McGonagle (9.64) of Costa Rica and ninth seed Yolanda Hopkins (9.24) of Portugal.
She moves on to face seventh seed Brisa Hennessey, also of Costa Rica, tomorrow. The winner advances to the quarter-finals.
The route to round three was more difficult for Stairmand.
The 31-year-old finished third in his heat meaning he had to go through a second heat in order to advance.
Once again he finished third, with the top three advancing to the next round.
But he will need to be on the top of his game tomorrow as he is set to compete against number one seed and reigning world champion Italo Ferreira, of Brazil.
Williams is expected to compete at 11am New Zealand time, while Stairmand is scheduled for just after 5pm.
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