Woolhandling champion beaten by first time winner at Royal Show

October 25, 2015

There was a string of firsts all-round as the Great Raihania Shears were held at the Royal Show in Hastings on Friday.

They were headed by Te Karaka woolhandler Mary-Anne Baty, of Te Karaka, who beat Golden Shears and 2012 World champion Joel Henare in winning her first Open woolhandling title after three years of trying.

World champion shearer Rowland Smith, of Hastings, won the competition’s Open shearing title for the first time, and Catherine Mullooly, of Matawai, became the first woman to win the show’s Senior shearing title.

Young Raupunga shearer Hemi Lambert had his first Intermediate win, and Eli Raheke, of Porangahau, scored his first win by claiming the Junior shearing title, in what was also the first six-stand final at the Great Raihania Shears, on the board borrowed from Rangitikei Shearing Sports in Marton.

Angela Kirkpatrick, daughter of Open final runner-up John Kirkpatrick and in nher right extensively involved in the running of the event, had her first win in the Junior woolhandling final, while in the other final, young teenager Marika Braddick made it two-from-two in her Senior woolhandling career, having also won at Gisborne last week.

It was a particularly popular win for Te Karaka woolhandler Baty, who hadn’t won a final since the 2011-2012 season when she was the No 2 ranked Senior woolhandler in New Zealand, with four wins during that summer, including the Hawke’s Bay Senior title in October 2011.

She was runner-up to World and Golden Shears champion Joel Henare in the Open finals in Hastings in 2013 and 2014, and had a particular highlight when reaching the Golden Shears Open final in March 2014.

Thanking a string of people who had encouraged and mentored her along the way, she said after her win, on a day where temperatures in Hastings reached a nationwide high of 27deg: “I didn’t think I was going to win.”

She needn’t have worried, for in the end it was by a comfortable 20 points from Henare, with a margin of almost 50 more points to third placegetter, multiple New Zealand Open champion and 2008 World champion Sheree Alabaster.

Now hitting 29 and with daughter Erana at home, she’s been woolhandling about 10 years since meeting partner D J Crawford, who also contributed to the housekeeping by finishing sixth in Friday’s Senior shearing final.

She thanked the likes of Henare, Penny Kerekere, first contractor Butch Pardoe and now regular employers Ian and Lilibeth Kirkpatrick, and said: “I’ve worked with Joel for 9 or 10 years…..It means a lot to me to be working and learning from the champions.”

“I’d hate to think what else I’d be doing,” she said later.

Smith, on his 29th birthday, was third off the board in the Open final, 36 seconds behind Kirkpatrick, whose 17min 54.19 just pipped home-town chance Dion King in the race for time honours over the 20 sheep.

Smith’s better pen points were crucial to his winning points of 69.614, beating three-times Great Raihania Shears winner Kirkpatrick by just 0.196pts.

Mullooly, 25, made the best of less than a fortnight back home in New Zealand, adding her Hawke’s Bay title to a win at Gisborne six days earlier. She headed straight back across the Tasman to continue working for George Parker in Kingston, South Australia.

Results of the Great Raihania Shears at the Royal Show in Hastings on Friday, October 23, 2015:

Shearing:

Open final (20 sheep):Rowland Smith (Hastings) 18min 30.28sec, 69.614pts, 1; John Kirkpatrick (Napier) 17min 54.19sec, 69.81pts, 2; Dion King (Hastings) 17min 54.82sec, 70.541pts, 3; Murray Henderson (Feilding) 20min 12sec, 77.1pts, 4; Paerata Abraham (Dannevirke) 21min 16.59sec, 81.08pts, 5; Aaron Haynes (Feilding) 20min 52.15sec, 81.408pts, 6.

Senior final (10 sheep): Catherine Mullooly (Matawai) 13min 27sec, 61.15pts, 1; Bevan Pere (Gisborne) 13min 46sec, 61.8pts, 2; Jean-Pierre Bouyer (Hastings) 14min 2sec, 62.3pts, 3; Jacob Moore (Marton) 13min 53sec, 65.85pts, 4; Tui Pene (Waipawa) 13min 12sec, 68.3pts, 5; D J Crawford (Gisborne) 12min 57sec, 68.45pts, 6.

Intermediate final (6 sheep): Hemi Lambert (Raupunga) 8min, 36.333pts, 1; Nick Greaves (Staffordshire, England) 8min 23sec, 40.817pts, 2; Carlton Aranui (Raupunga) 8min 41sec, 41.717pts, 3; Liam Quinlivan (Waipukurau) 8min 48sec, 42.9pts, 4; Anaru Wakefield (Porangahau) 8min 22sec, 43.267pts, 5; Laura Bradley (Woodville) 10min 7sec, 48.183pts, 6.

Junior final (4 sheep): Eli Raheke (Porangahau) 7min 2sec, 34.1pts, 1; Ruka Braddick (Eketahuna) 7min 17sec, 38.1pts, 2; Connor Puha (Apiti) 9min 14sec, 47.7pts, 3; Cody Greig (Foxton) 9min 41sec, 52.3pts, 4; Selwyn Tapine (Wairoa) 6min 42sec, 54.35pts, 5; Tom Hall (Feilding) 8min 49sec, 57.45pts, 6.

Woolhandling:

Open final: Mary-Anne Baty (Te Karaka) 97.75pts, 1; Joel Henare (Gisborne) 117.91pts, 2; Sheree Alabaster (Taihape) 166.82pts, 3; Monica Potae (Milton) 4.

Senior final: Marika Braddick (Eketahuna) 135.56sec, 1; Erica Reti (Balfour) 158.16pts, 2; Melanie Barrett (Gore) 161.62pts, 3; Keoni Ngarangione (Gisborne) 173.06pts, 4.

Junior final: Angela Kirkpatrick (Napier) 105.09pts, 1; Nye Kerekere (Gisborne) 111.882pts, 2; Bianca Hawea (Masterton) 144.69pts, 3; Samantha Tipene (Eketahnua).

ENDS

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