Anderson and Paige Hareb, a CT veteran on the comeback trail, were battling late for the second qualifying position in their four-woman heat after Luana Silva opened with heat-high scores of 8.33 and 7.83.

Hareb and Anderson got off to slow starts but the Kiwi was into second spot with a 6.5 for a 10.37 total with nine minutes left in the 30-minute heat.

Anderson struggled to find the right wave and had a two-score total of 7.43, leaving her needing a 6.28. Hareb then extended the lead with a 5.33, leaving the Novocastrian chasing a 7.73 inside the last six minutes.

She responded with two critical snaps on her backhand for a 7.27, giving her the chance to take Hareb's spot in the next round with a 4.86 with three minutes left. Anderson went for a wave in the dying seconds but struggled to find her feet and earned a 0.5.

Silva (16.16), who missed the mid-season CT cut, and Hareb (11.83) progressed to the round of 32 ahead of Anderson (11.37) and Alysse Cooper (10).

Anderson also made a first-round exit at the first Challenger Series (CS) event, at Snapper Rocks, this month. The CS has eight stops to decide CT qualifiers for 2023.

Newcastle-based South African Sarah Baum dominated her heat late with scores of 6.43 and 7.43 (13.86) to beat Zoe McDougall (10.97), Amuro Tsuzuki (9.26) and Leticia Canales Bilbao (8.6).

In the men's round of 48, Morgan Cibilic faces Jordan Lawler, Willian Cardoso and Ian Gentil, while Ryan Callinan is up against Imaikalani deVault, Matheus Navarro and Cody Young.

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