Kiwi Jack Fagan Wins French Shearing Title
July 16, 2017 - New
Zealand shearer Jack Fagan has won the French championships
All-Nations Open final. The event was held at Martel in
southwest France, and about 190km south of of central France
town Le Dorat, where the next World shearing and
woolhandling championships will be staged in
2019. Shearing the 20 sheep in 12min 7sec, Fagan, from Te
Kuiti, finished more than a sheep ahead of the rest in the
four-man final, and overall claimed the title by a margin of
4.55pts from defending champion and France World
championships representative Loic Leygonie, of Martel, who
has also shorn regularly in New Zealand summers since
2011. Third was Christophe Riffaud, the France World
championships committee chairman and who recently was one of
a pair who established a French two-stand shearing record of
1328 in nine hours, whiloe fourth place went to Pierre
Grancher, of Sisteron, and who in 2015 was runner-up in the
New Zealand crossbred lambshearing championships
Intermediate final at the Winton A and P Show. Son of
former shearing great Sir David Fagan and a former top lower
grades competitor, Jack Fagan had his biggest win in the
Royal Welsh Open two years ago, and in February he won the
Open Speedshear during the World Championships and Southland
All Nations Championships in Invercargill. Another feature
of the chamoionships in Martel was the Six Nations blade
shearing championships win by Wales World championships pair
Elfed Jackson and Gareth Owen. It was a triumph in big terms
after they were beaten by fellow Six Nations teams Ireland
and England when the three countries were fourth, fifth and
sixth in the World Championships teams blade shearing final
five months ago. Result: French Shearing Championships
Open final (20 sheep): Jack Fagan (New Zealand) 12min 7sec,
46.2pts, 1; Loic Leygonie (France) 13min 17sec, 50.75pts, 2;
Christophe Riffaud (France) 12min 41sec, 53.6pts, 3; Pierre
Grancher (France) 13min 23sec, 59.1pts,
4.
ENDS