Great Scott! Irish star grabs Kiwi shears title.

Great Scott! Irish star grabs Kiwi shears title.

World record lambshearer Ivan Scott scored his biggest competition win outside the UK and home-country Ireland with a stunning upset victory in the New Zealand Corriedale Championships final at the Canterbury Show in Christchurch yesterday.

It was a massive leap for the 33-year-old from Kilmacrennan, Co Donegal, who hadn’t won a competition in New Zealand since the 2008 Northern A and P Show in Rangiora.

Having shorn in New Zealand every summer since he was 19, Scott has, however, twice broken the World eighth-hour strongwool lambshearing record. He is the current holder with 744, shorn when he claimed the record back from Hawke’s Bay shearer and former World and Golden Shears champion Cam Ferguson in January 2012 at Opepe Station, just east of Taupo.

His win yesterday was based on the quality of his 10 sheep in the pen judging, where he was more than 4pts better than anyone else in the six-man final.

His ultimate winning margin of 1.299pts was all that stood between 47-year-old defending champion Rakaia shearer Tony Coster and a unique treble on a day when Coster was presented with a small trophy marking his acclaim as a Master Shearer.

Coster had retained the Canterbury Circuit title on Thursday and yesterday led Canterbury to victory over Queensland in the Lister Challenge.

Third place went to 13-times winner David Fagan, of Te Kuiti.

Coster was first to finish in 12min 24.98sec, and Fagan was next off, also under 13 minutes, and more than 44 seconds ahead of Scott, who was born about the time Fagan was competing in the Golden Shears senior final in March 1981.

The second shearer from overseas to win the Corriedale title in the last four years, Scott had been a favourite for the World Championships in Ireland in May, after winning three finals in the build-up.

Having been second-to-top qualifier from the heats in Gorey, Co Wexford, he missed out on qualifying for the final, by just one place

Scott’s ultimate winning margin of 1.299pts yesterday was all that stood between 47-year-old Coster and a unique treble on a day when Coster was presented with a small trophy marking his acclaim as a Master Shearer.

Coster had retained the Canterbury Circuit title on Thursday and yesterday led Canterbury to victory over Queensland in the Lister Challenge.

Meanwhile, Fairlie farmer Tony Dobbs yesterday retained the blade shearing title he won last year after retiring following his last previous win in the event 18 years earlier. But it was a big day for runner-up and World Championships New Zealand teammate Brian Thomson, of West Melton. He was later presented with his Master Blade Shearer award.

Former World Championships New Zealand representative Billy Michelle, of Timaru, was third in a final which was also unique for the appearance of New Zealand-based Japanese shearer Shun Oishi.

He has competed in all-four shearing sports crafts, as a machine shearer, a woolhandler, a presser, and with the blades.

The senior shearing final was won by Rangiora-based Lyall Windleburn, with a huge winning margin of almost 12pts over runner-up Vanni Springer, of Ranfurly.

The intermediate final was won by Hugh De Lacy, of Fernside. Pagan Rimene, who on Thursday won the Open woolhandling final, also displayed her versatility by finishing fifth.

Results from the New Zealand Corriedale Shearing Championships at the Canterbury Show in Christchurch, on Friday, November 14, 2014:

Lister Challenge (8 sheep): Canterbury 195.918pts (Tony Coster 11min 42.53sec, 63.502pts; Grant Smith 13min 22.33sec, 65.867pts; Mark Herlihy 13min 5.98sec, 66.549pts) beat Queensland 249.547pts (Boogie Ferguson 12min 28.97sec, 76.824pts; Dave Grant 14min 35.25sec, 78..263pts; Barry Hammond 13min 44.2sec, 94.46pts).

NZ Corriedale Championships:

Open final (10 sheep): Ivan Scott (Ireland) 13min 43sec, 60.95pts, 1; Tony Coster (Rakaia) 12min 24.98sec, 62.249pts, 2; David Fagan (Te Kuiti) 12min 58.58sec, 64.829pts, 3; Grant Smith (Rakaia) 13min 49.77sec, 67.389pts, 4; Eli Cummings (Pleasant Point) 13min 53.81sec, 67.491pts, 5; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 14min 31.64sec, 71.782pts, 6.

Senior final (9 sheep): Lyall Windleburn (Waiau) 14min 32.83sec, 66.787pts, 1; Vanni Stringer (Ranfurly) 16min 49.75sec, 78.613pts, 2; Chris Russell (Woodend) 16min 56.27sec, 81.689pts, 3; Paul Hodges (Geraldine) 17min 21.09sec, 85.68pts, 4; Phil Williams (-) 17min 37.6sec, 90pts, 5; Linton Palmer (Dipton) 17min 47.69sec, 92.01pts, 6.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Hugh De Lacy (Fernside) 11min 45.08sec, 57.054pts, 1; Luis Pincol (Chile) 9min 50.48sec, 59.124pts, 2; Chris Malcolm (Winton) 11min 30.2sec, 59.31pts, 3; Jarod Morgan (Waimate) 12min 2.25sec, 59.512pts, 4; Pagan Rimene (Masterton) 9min 22.63sec, 65.332pts, 5; Corey White (Waimate) 11min 32.73sec, 68.837pts, 6.

Blades final (5 sheep): Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 15min 22.31sec, 71.716pts, 1; Brian Thomson (West Melton) 16min 34.67sec, 80.534pts, 2; Billy Michelle (Timaru) 14min 57.13sec, 82.857pts, 3; Chris Russell (Woodend) 17m in 1.3sec, 90.265pts, 4; Alan Oldfield (Geraldine) 17min 3.53sec, 91.377pts, 5; Shun Oishi (Japan) 19min 13.31sec, 116.066pts, 6.

ENDS

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