SURF SCENE with Andrew McKinnon

JAPANESE Gold Coast-based women's professional surfer Ren Hashimoto has scored her first major win in Australia by taking out the Tweed Coast Pro from Stephanie Single of Lennox Head, NSW in extremely difficult small-wave conditions at Cabarita.

"This is the biggest win of my career, I'm just so happy,” Hashimoto said.

"I was really nervous all heat because I know how good Steph is and how well she has been surfing all event. Even when I had her in combination I knew she could easily come back.”

The former Palm Beach Currumbin High School student has been knocking on the competitive door for the last two years.

As a member of the Alley Boardriders based at Currumbin, she has been their open women's club champion. Hashimoto represented her home country, Japan, at last year's World ISA games, finishing ninth overall. Hashimoto's big win at Caba has rocketed the diminutive, yet powerful, competitor into number five on the world women's qualifying series ranking.

The top seven of the WSL WQS women's qualify for the WSL women's world title tour in 2018 and Hashimoto has given herself a fantastic shot at being Japan's first ever women's competitor on the world tour.

Hashimoto gave Australia's latest ratings leader Macy Callaghan the knockout blow in the quarter finals of the 1000-rated event, which saw a field of 250 competitors from across the world vie for glory in the second hit-out of the NSW Pro Surf Series.

Callaghan, who is tipped to be the next Stephanie Gilmore, is currently leading the women's WQS ratings. It's a long way until the end of the year but Hashimoto has the power and the punch to make next year's WSL Women's Tour.

In the men's draw, NSW South Coast plumber Ty Watson - normally regarded for his big wave exploits - rewrote the book on small- wave shredding to post his first ever WQS win in the men's at Caba.

Watson, who is now rated number three on the WSL men's WQS, managed to hold back current WQS ratings leader Cam Richards of South Carolina, USA. Final points Watson 15.70 (8.35 & 7.35) to Richards 14.40 (7.25 & 7.15).

"I've never won a QS before so I'm stoked to get one under the belt,” Watson said.

Meanwhile, day two of the Volcom Pipeline Pro was held in the best Banzai Pipeline so far this year. The 3000-rated WQS men's event in Hawaii attracted the big pipe specialists like world champ John John Florence and Mason Ho. The biggest upset was defending champion and 11-time world champion Kelly Slater. The champ was surprisingly bundled out in Round Three.

Regarded as the world's greatest surfer of all time, and at Pipe, Robert Kelly Slater is now entering into the twilight of his illustrious career. At 45 years of age and at least twice as old as his contemporaries, 2017 is Kelly's swan song year and the fans will be lining up big time to see Slater at Snapper for possibly the last time next month for the World Tour opener from March 14 to 26.