SURFING - Divers targets series victory

Sandy Bay surfer Paco Divers leads the Surfing New Zealand junior title race going into the final event at Raglan.
Divers is assured of the title if he can win the junior division of the Sequence Surf Shop Pro, the first of the Corona Crown Series for the 2007/08 season.
The race for the title is effectively down to the top three surfers Divers will have to see off challenges from Piha's Ryan Hawker and defending series champion Billy Stairmand on his home break if he wants to add the title to his collection.
Hawker is Divers' main competitor and a win for the Auckland surfer in his first year in the division will be enough to push Divers into second.
Divers, who has another year of competition in the under-18 division, will have to miss out on a final berth to be trumped by Stairmand for the title, an unlikely outcome given Divers' recent form.
Unlike the open men and women's divisions that run a seasonal calendar from October to April, the junior divisions remain on an annual calendar. Divers will also be a contender in the open division of the event.
The Corona series is the first of six spread across the country that will determine New Zealand's ultimate surfing champion but there is another bonus prize on offer.
The winner of the Open Men's division at the first three events will be granted a slot in the New Zealand qualifying round of the Vodafone Surf Sessions to be held at Raglan on February 9.
The winner of the qualifying round will get a place in the New Zealand team to take on the international surfers.
New Zealand's top competitive surfers, Maz Quinn and Bobby Hansen, will use this weekend's four-star event to build up to the last leg of their international campaigns in Hawaii.
Current Corona Crown Series champion Daniel Kereopa has opted to sit out this event after a clash with his karate grading on Saturday. His absence will pave the way for a number of candidates to push into the top ranks.
With only a small swell predicted by forecasters, the more vaunted names in the field may find themselves being challenged by the young light-footed generation led by Divers, Whangamata's Rangi Ormond, Mount Maunganui's Matt Hewitt and Tim O'Connor.