Henare lines up big night with the Golden Fleece

Henare lines up big night with the Golden Fleece

Golden Shears and former World champion woolhandler Joel Henare has taken a big step towards celebrating one of his biggest nights in style by heading a top field of four qualifiers for tonight’s New Zealand Merino Championships open final in Alexandra.

Henare is also being presented with his Master Woolhandler award, making him at the age of 22 the youngest woolhandler or shearer ever accorded Master status by his sport’s national controlling body, Shearing Sports New Zealand.

From Gisborne but based in the South Island, where he quickly made it through to Open-class woolhandling more than seven years ago, Henare has won most of the titles available to him, including the 2012 World Championship in Masterton, the 2012 merino championship in Alexandra, and the last two Golden Shears opens.

Henare was top qualifier after the heats yesterday, the opening day of the country’s only finewool shearing and woolhandling championhips and the start of the New Zealand competition season, and maintained the form through today’s semi-finals.

Also in tonight’s final are Tia Potae, of Milton, Rocky Hape-Taite, of Dannevirke, and Foonie Waihape, of Gisborne.

The other feature of the final night are a transtasman merino shearing match, and the New Zealand Merino Shearing Open final, for West Australian Damien Boyle has qualified in second place, going for a fifth win in a row in the event.

He was headed in the semi-finals only by New Zealand multi-breeds champion and newly-acclaimed Master Shearer Nathan Stratford, of Invercargill, the last New Zealander to win the tilte, in 2009, while the other finalists are Troy Pyper, of Invercargill, Leon Samuels, of Tuatapere, Colin O’Neill, of Alexandra, and Mark Buscumb, of West Australia.

Earlier today the senior woolhandling final final was won by Sharnee Keefe, of Taihape, and the junior title by Clarissa Lewis, of Gisborne.

Results:

Woolhandling:

Senior final: Sharnee Keefe (Taihape) 1, Creedence Culshaw (Raupunga) 2, Ruby O'Neill (Alexandra) 3, Melanie Barrett (Invercargill).

Junior final: Clarissa Lewis (Gisborne) 1, Chiquita Tamepo (Gisborne) 2, Jade Culshaw (Raupunga) 3, Alesha Thompson (Hastings) 4.

ENDS

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