Dramatic Decider In Blade Shears

Canterbury workmates Brian Thomson and Allan Gemmell have won the two blade-shearing places in Shearing Sports New Zealand's team for the 14th Golden Shears World Championships in Wales this year after a dramatic last round of their qualifying series today at the Oxford A and P Show, west of Christchurch.

Thomson, from West Melton, had already qualified before the day started but Gemmell, whio lives near Rangiora, had to come from behind to beat Geraldine shearer Phil Oldfield to decide the second position in an unprecedented four-sheep shear-off.

Trailing on points at the start of the day, the last show of eight during the summer in the Mark Marshall Memorial Blade Circuit, Gemmell forced the decider when he was second in the Oxford Open Blades final, for which Oldfield failed to qualify.

Gemmell was first finished in the shear-of in 13min 43.78sec, beating Oldfield by 14.5 seconds, but conceded two penalty points in the board judging, leaving the result in the hands of judges in the pens before the result was decided.

Earlier, Thomson also failed to qualify for the Oxford Show final which was won by Mike McConnell, of Cave, South Canterbury, whose points were still insufficent to put him into World Championships reckoning.

Thomson and Gemmell will be members of a six-strong Shearing Sports New Zealand team for the championships at the Royal Welsh Show on July 19-22. They will join woolhandlers Keryn Herbert, from Te Awamutu, and reigning champion Sheree Alabaster, of Taihape, and Golden Shears open shearing champion Cam Ferguson, of Waipawa. The sixth member will be decided in the Open shearing final at the New Zeland Championships in Te Kuiti next Saturday.

ENDS