The King reigns again as North Island title kicks off
MEDIA RELEASE
On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand
March 31, 2012. 9am
The King reigns again as North Island title kicks off in Te Kuiti shears weekend
Hastings shearer Dion King returned to winning form with victory in the North Island Shearer of the Year final at the New Zealand championships in Te Kuiti last night.
He hadn’t won the Pahiatua Shears five weeks ago, but the win, by less than a tenth of a point from 2011 New Zealand teammate and fellow Hawke’s Bay-based shearer Rowland Smith was a loud warning of his chances in even further big prizes at the championships today.
The 2006 Golden Shears Open champion and World nine-hour lambshearing record holder will be out to retain the New Zealand Shears Circuit title and also score his first New Zealand Open Championship.
King also won the South Island Shears of the Year series final in Gore last month (February).
In other events yesterday, teenaged Northland brothers Bryce and Charlie Guy won the New Zealand Championships’ Intermediate and Seniuor shearing titles respectively.
It continued the Kaeo family’s record at the championships where they left off last year, when Bryce won the Junior title, and two other brothers, Bevan and Marshall, won the Senior and Novice titles respectively.
The Senior woolhandling title yesterday was won by Kim Sowry, of Eketahuna, and the Junior by Stevie Mason Smallman, of Taihape, while in an inter-island shearing and woolhandling teams event it was the North which won, the home-team victory in a row in the matches held in Gore and Te Kuiti each year.
ENDS