Otago title stays in Hawke's Bay

MEDIA RELEASE

On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand

February 14, 2010. &.30pm.

Cam shafts shears guns as Otago title stays in Hawke's Bay

Central Hawke's Bay shearer Cam Ferguson has made his strongest case for rolling the big veteran guns in the race for places at this year's World Championships year by winning the prestige Otago Championship open title in Balclutha.

Ferguson, 26, was third off the board in what was an all-Hawke's Bay race for time-honours in the final on Saturday, which ended with the Bay stretching an Otago Open stranglehold to it's sixth year, but picked-up enough points in judging to head off Napier gun and four-times winner John Kirkpatrick by 0.15pts. Hastings-based Dion King, the 2007 winner who is home from Australia to challenge for the big titles, was third.

Kirkpatrick was first finished the 20 sheep in 17min 31.09sec, with five seconds to King, another five to Ferguson, and almost 38 seconds more to Te Kuiti's James Fagan, with Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford tailing the five-man field in 19min 6.05sec. Ferguson had been top qualifier after the semi-finals, in which King Country icon David Fagan was eliminated.

The championships were the first leg of a traditional but unofficial four-week grand slam dating back almost 40 years and which continuesat next weekend's southern Shears in Gore and culminates in Masterton's Golden shears next week, where the Open championship carries with it the first of two black-singlet places at the World Championships in Wales.

Missing from Balclutha was reigning World champion Paul Avery who competed at Te Puke and had to settle for second to another championships team aspirant in Dean Ball, of Te Kuiti.

Gisborne teenager and New Zealand transtasman series representative Joel Henare retained his New Zealand Woolhandler of the Year title at Balclutha, his third title of the post-Christmas stage of the season and firming favouritism to take one of the two World championships woolhandling berths in a selection trial to be held during the Golden Shears.

Teaming with Te Awamutu's Keryn Herbert, Henare also featured in New Zealand's woolhandling test match win over the Welsh World championships team of Bronwen Tango and Meinir Evans, but there was some cause for celebration in the Welsh camp after shearers Gareth Daniel and Gareth Evans beat an Otago regional team of Owaka shearers Simon Bradfield and Bruce Walker in a final shakedown before meeting Kirkpatrick and James Fagan in Gore in the first of four tests on a two-month tour.

In the senior final in Balclutha, Invercargill shearer Nick Pyper beat teenaged New Zealand intermediate and Australian senior crossbred champion Matene Mason, of Masterton, by seven-tenths of a point, the intermediate title was won by Australian Corey Mifsud and school-aged Brett Roberts, of Mataura, won the junior title.

Gisborne's Choppy Pattison won the senior woolhandling final, while Ngahuia Thwaites, of Masterton, maintained winning form in major southern junior competitions.

ENDS

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