A young New Zealand surfer and a junior world rowing champion are among the four finalists in line for a $25,000 sporting scholarship next year.
Paige Hareb finished the year by qualifying for the elite World Dream Tour next year
She and the World Under-23 lightweight single scull champion Graham Oberlin-Brown join karate's Chris Rahardja and skiing's Jossi Wells as the finalists for the 2008 Westpac Emerging Talent Award.
The award is intended to identify and reward potential Olympic and World Champions and will be presented at the Halberg awards in Auckland in February.
Last year's finalists were golfer Danny Lee, racing driver, Brendon Hartley, cyclist Edward Dawkins and the eventual winner, the Olympic single sculler Emma Twigg.
