Favourite midfield, defending champ on top at Goldies Open

March 4, 2016

Favourite midfield, defending champ on top as Goldies Open warms up

World champion shearer Rowland Smith has sent a minor flutter through the Golden Shears followers in Masterton by finishing well-down the pack in the opening round of this year’s Open championship.

Smith, rated the hottest favourite in the 20-year history of TAB betting on the event managed to qualify for tonight’s Top 30 quarterfinal shootout, but in only 18th place.

With points reverting to scratch at each stage, it was more of a blip on the radar however for the 29-year-old Smith who has only been beaten once in 15 finals shorn in New Zealand this summer.

“Hopefully that’s the bad one out of the way,” he comment soon after shearing in the 9th of 11 heats – his own heat including fellow former winner Dion King, multiple Australian champion and double World champion Shannon Warnest, four-times New Zealand national circuit champion Tony Coster, and 2015 Open finalist Troy Pyper.

King, Coster and Pyper also made the cut, highlighting the general quality of the field which is headed by defending champion and Taranaki-based Scotsman going into tonight’s showdown.

Mutch advances with two others from his heat in Wairarapa shearer David Buick and Jack Fagan, son of Golden Shears legend Sir David Fagan.

From tonight, 12 qualify for the semi-final tomorrow afternoon, the top six then qualifying for tomorrow night’s final.

Qualifiers for tonight’s Top 30 quarterfinal are, in order: Gavin Mutch (Whangamomona and Scotland), John Kirkpatrick (Napier), Digger Balme (Te Kuiti), Aaron Haynes (Feilding), Murray Henderson (Feilding) David Buick (Pongaroa), Dion King (Alfredton and Hastings), Darin Forde (Invercargill), Nathan Stratford (Invercargill), Angus Moore (Kaitangata and Ward), Tama Niania (Gisborne), Tony Coster (Rakaia), Casey Bailey (Riverton), Paerata Abraham (Masterton), Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti), Troy Pyper (Invercargill), Hemi Braddick (Eketahuna), Rowland Smith (Hastings), Jimmy Samuels (Marton), Shelford Wilcox (Hastings and Gisborne), Andy Mainland (Invercargill), Dion Morrell (Alexandra), Axle Reid (Taihape), Sam Welch (Waikaretu), Adam Brausch (Masterton and Dannevirke), Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti), Brett Roberts (Mataura), Justin Dolphin (Australia), Grant Smith (Rakaia), Matene Mason (Masterton).

ENDS

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