Smith and Henare eyeing century of wins
Reigning Golden Shears and New Zealand shearing champion and former World Champion Rowland Smith is targeting 100th Open-class win today in Pukekohe, just a day after winning two more titles 1700km away at Gore in Southland. The 30-year-old, who grew up and learnt his shearing stuff in Northland and now lives with wife and fellow record-breaking shearer Ingrid and their two children at Maraekakaho, west of Hastings, yesterday took his total to 99 with successful defences of both the South Islan...
February 19, 2017Henare the one to beat in Gore
World Champion Joel Henare has shown no signs of a post-World Championship hang-over, proving to be the one to beat in qualifying at the annual Southern Shears Open Woolhandling in Gore today. Dunedin-based Henare of Gisborne, fresh from winning his second World Championship at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill on Saturday, comfortably qualified for this afternoon's Open Final, earning top billing from the morning heats, 9 points clear of second-placed Pagan Karauria of Alexandra. He th...
February 17, 2017World Champs back up in Gore
It'll be as if nothing's missed a beat for many top shearers and woolhandlers, judges and officials as the 52nd two-day Southern Shears kick-off in Gore tomorrow (Friday). New Zealand's two World individual champions, shearer John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, and Dunedin-based Gisborne woolhandler Joel Henare, will be back in action, less than a week after claiming their big titles in the euphoria of Invercargill's ILT Stadium Southland packed with over 4000 people late last Saturday night. Among...
February 16, 2017The names behind World Champs
What a ride! Now that the fleeces have settled on the 2017 World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships, it's our first chance to take a breath and look back at an amazing last ten days. I jumped on board in November, to help with the final lead-in to what had already been a three-year labour of love for an Organising Committee that had given up a massive chuck of their lives in an effort to deliver the best World Championships ever. I don't think there's any debate that they succeeded … an...
February 14, 2017Final Results from the 2017 World Championships
RESULTS from the finals at 17th World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships at ILT Stadium Southland, Invercargill NZ, on February 8-11, 2017: Individual: Machine Shearing final (20 sheep – six fullwool, eight second-shear, six lambs): John Kirkpatrick (New Zealand) 17min 22.079sec, 61.554pts, 1; Gavin Mutch (Scotland) 16min 56.139sec, 62.907pts, 2; Nathan Stratford (New Zealand) 18min 3.357sec, 63.818pts, 3; Ivan Scott (Ireland) 18min 20.599sec, 66.53pts, 4; Hamish Mitchell (Scotland) 16...
February 12, 2017Big Night for New Zealand at World shears champs
It was a New Zealand and South Africa night tonight as the two traditional rugby nations turned their rivalry to the woolshed on the final night of the World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill's ILT Stadium Southland. New Zealand made it a bag of four as the black singlets won the individual and teams titles in machine shearing and woolhandling, while South Africa won the two blade shearing titles, for New Zealand a repeat of the quadruple success scored in Norway in 2008. ...
February 12, 2017The big night ahead
Welsh shearers Gwion Jones and Ian Jones were possibly the surprise packet as they qualified in fourth place for tonight's teams final at the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Invercargill. Regarded as a new team and one for the future, they also shore in the individual semi-finals, where they were eliminated from the title race. The six finalists for the individual machine shearing title, the glamour event, include three favourites, two of them among the three finalists who als...
February 11, 2017Favourite Henare and the three newbies
Three newcomers to World Championships shearing sports have made their way to the final of the individual woolhandling in front of about 4000 spectators in Invercargill's ILT Stadium Southland tonight. The four qualifiers are headed by favourite and 2012 champion Joel Henare, of New Zealand, who will have for opposition New Zealand-based Cook Islands representative Tina Elers, of Mataura, Sophie Huff(pictured), of Australia, and second New Zealand woolhandler Mary-Anne Baty. The final will be ...
February 11, 2017Prime Minister defeats shearing legend
Prime Minister Bill English earned the first major victory of election year today when he beat shearing legend Sir David Fagan in a one-sheep-match on the final afternoon of the four-day 40th anniversary World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in ILT Stadium Southland, Invercargill. The Prime Minister was right at home in his home province and shore one of the fastest long blows of the Championship to date, blasting Sir David away down the last side. The shearing champion from Te Kuiti, ...
February 11, 2017Favourites lead the way to machines semi-finals
The World Championships machine shearing favourites have lived up to predictions by filling the first three places among the top 12 bfor the semi-finals to be shorn this afternoon in ILT Stadium Southland, Invercargill. The 2012 champion, Gavin Mutch, of Scotland, led the qualifiers, followed by New Zealand hopes John Kirkpatrick and Nathan Stratford, while two-times champion Shannon Warnest (pictured), of Australia was also in the top 12. The 12 qualifiers in order are (aggregated points afte...
February 11, 2017Cook Islands chance to win World Champs Woolhandling?
A New Zealand-based Cook Islands team has exceeded all of its expectations by launching its way into at least one of the six finals on the last night of the four-day 40th anniversary World shearing and woolhandling championships in ILT Stadium Southland....
February 11, 2017Ford set to go another around despite end to 2017 champs
The near 20-year World Championships career of veteran American blade shearer Kevin Ford is unlikely to have come to an end despite just missing the goal of a semi-final place, at the age of 71. Ford, the oldest of 116 competitors who were entered in the four-day 40th anniversary World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill's ILT Stadium Southland was 13th in the two rounds of blade shearing heats – just missing a place in the top 12 for the semi-finals and the chance of a fi...
February 11, 2017Kiwis leap ahead in title hopes
The New Zealand bladeshearers have roared into serious contention for a win on the last night of the World Shearing Championships in Invercargill, despite the domination by defending champion and South African shearer Mayenseke Shweni in the Southland All Nations final last night. Fairlie farmer Tony Dobbs and Geraldine blades supplier Phil Oldfield, who were a promising second and third in the All Nations final in front of a Friday-night crowd of 2000 people in Invercargill's ILT Stadium Sout...
February 11, 2017Smith’s compo in All Nations win
Hawke's Bay shearer Rowland Smith scored a stunning Southland All Nations Open championship win in Invercargill tonight on the last night of a near three-year reign as World Champion. The win was some compensation for the two-metre-tall Smith who last year won five of the six preliminary rounds of the 2017 New Zealand team selection series only to finish third in the series final, and miss selection in the two-man machine shearing team and the chance to defend his World title he won in Ireland ...
February 10, 2017Napier Woolhandler takes big honors at World Champs
Napier woolhandler Angela Stevens may have some career thinking to do after scoring the first win of a possible family rout at the World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill when she won the Southland All Nations senior woolhandling final. It was the first of the major support-event titles to be presented, the 25-year-old mother-of-one taking a break from a busy computer points-scoring role at the four-day championships to compete, and try to watch husband Ricci in the All Na...
February 10, 2017Stratford at home in bid for World shears double
Home town hope Nathan Stratford has made a bold bid to claim a big double at the World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill as top qualifier for tonight's Southland All Nations Open machine shearing final. Stratford, New Zealand teammate John Kirkpatrick and All Nations favourite and reigning World Champion Rowland Smith, who narrowly missed selection in the New Zealand and thus the opportunity to defend his title, all made it into the six-man final set to all-but detonate th...
February 10, 2017Prime Minister to shear at World Championships
The Prime Minister of New Zealand faces his first challenge of election year tomorrow (Saturday) in his home province. After being publicly challenged late last year by the world's most-decorated shearer, Sir David Fagan, Bill English has duly accepted and will shear on-stage at the 2017 World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships at ILT Stadium Southland. Sir David said the Prime Minister's attendance was great news for the event. "We're rapt. He's always been supportive of agriculture ...
February 10, 2017Defending champ bolts ahead in blades heats
South African Mayenzeke Shweni has taken a huge step towards successfully defending his World blade shearing title with a commanding performance in the opening round of the event on the third day of the 40th anniversary shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill. A crowd of about 800 watched spellbound as Shweni polished his three second-shear sheep to take a leading margin of almost 12 points heading to the second round on fullwool sheep tomorrow – despite being beaten by New Z...
February 10, 2017Estonian shearer packs a lot of power
Estonian shearer Peedo Fiks is in a class of his own at the World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill, even if the inevitable is that his competition will end in the heats. One of only "five" shearers in Estonia – another is son Ando - the 64-year-old shearing his third World championships comes with his own portable shearing plant, a plug-in power pack which can run on solar energy and battery power, and comes complete with pig-tail power lead. He developed the plant and...
February 10, 2017Woolhandling surprise at World champs
The Cook Islands has emerged as an unlikely World shearing and woolhandling championships hope after Southlander Tina Elers' performance to lead a field of 34 after the first round of the woolhandling championship in Invercargill's ILT Stadium today. Elers,, from Mataura, was in the same heat as 2012 champion and New Zealand Master Woolhandler Joel Henare and managed to avoid the glare shone on the warm favourite for the event. But at the end she was in front after the lambswool round, Henare ...
February 10, 2017Top three hopes lead the way in World shears
The three leading World machine shearing title hopes are living to pre-championships form by hogging the top three places after the second of three preliminary rounds at the World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill. Former champion Gavin Mutch has maintained his place at the top of the rankings. The Scots hope, who lives in New Zealand and farms at remote Whangamomona in Taranaki, headed the 54-strong field at the end of the first round on lambs yesterday, and second in th...
February 10, 2017Iceland shearer Heida stands out in crowd
Farmer and sheep scanner Heida Guony poses a unique figure as she goes through the rounds of the machine shearing at the World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill. On one hand she's from Iceland, and on another she's the only female in the World championships machine shearing, although there were several others in the open-entry Southland All Nations Championships support events, and the woolhandling field is predominantly female. On another, at the age of 38 she's alrea...
February 10, 2017Fagan claims Speed Shear
It was the luckiest break of all, and the winner felt the pain. That was the case in the World shearing and woolhandling championships Open Speedshear final won tonight in Invercargill by Te Kuiti shearer Jack Fagan, son of shearing legend and Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman Sir David Fagan. The 24-year-old claimed the title and $1200 winning cheque despite being beaten by Masterton shearer Paerata Abraham, who was then disqualified for exceeding the quality benchmark in the mad-dash fi...
February 9, 2017Mutch post big warning in bid for second World title
Taranaki farmer and Scotland shearing World championships hope Gavin Mutch loomed large as a possibility to regain the title he won in 2012 when he lead the field after the first round of heats in Invercargill today. Shearing on the second of the four days of the 40th anniversary World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill's ILT Stadium Southland, Mutch was one of just four shearers to go under six minutes for the five lambs, posting the fastest time of 5min 34.597sec, and ma...
February 9, 2017Nervous time for Smith in All Nations
The disappointment of just missing out on the chance to defend the World machine shearing title showed just a twinkle as Hawke's Bay gun Rowland Smith started his bid to win the 2017 championships' major support event. Hawke's Bay shearer Smith, who grew-up in Northland, dominated the New Zealand team selection series last year by winning five of the six events but then missed selection by the narrowest of margins by finishing their in the series final in Christchurch in November. Today he c...
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