MEDIA RELEASE On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand November 14, 2010

Captain Kirky flies in for inter-island double

Hawke's Bay shearer John Kirkpatrick made the best of a busy weekend by winning two open championship finals just 24 hours apart in Christchurch and Waipukurau at the weekend.

Kirkpatrick, 40, won the New Zealand Corriedale Championship final over 10 sheep on Friday, and then flew home to win the Central Hawke's Bay Show A and P final, over 15 sheep, the next day.

But it wasn't the first time two-times Golden Shears open champion Kirkpatrick had completed such a triumphant ordeal, for he won both titles on successive days in 2008, and a few months later won three events in three days - two in Southland and one at Levin.

In Christchurch, Kirkpatrick was first off the board, shearing his 10 sheep in 11min 24.3sec, beating Marlborough hopeful Angus Moore, of Ward, by just four seconds. When time and quality points were calculated, Kirkpatrick had won by threequarters of a point from Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford, with Moore next, Rakaia shearer Tony Coster fourth and King Country icon David Fagan fifth.

Fagan also flew back to the North Island where he was runner-up on Saturday, in an otherwise all-Hawke's Bay final, in which Dion King, of Hastings, shore 15 sheep in about 13 minutes to beat Kirkpatrick by about five seconds. But King, soon to return to his base on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, had to settle for third on points.

New World champion Cam Ferguson did not compete in Christchurch and stayed in hometown Waipawa to organise a speedshear on Friday night, in which he beat Fagan who had just arrived from the South Island. But Ferguson failed to make the final of Saturday's CHB show, which he had won last year.

World woolhandling champion team member Keryn Herbert, of Te Awamutu, scored one of her biggest wins by taking the Corriedale Championships open title on Friday, with South Islanders Bernadette Forde and Tia Potae second and third. Herbert also travelled north immediately afterwards and on Saturday was third in the CHB open woolhandling final behind winner and Gisborne teenager Joel Henare. Dannevirke's Dallas Mihaere continued a good open-class season by finishing second.

South Island based English shearer Malcolm Sweeney won the Corriedale championships senior shearing title, and Mataura teenager Brett Roberts won the intemediate final by almost 10 points. Mike McConnell, of Cave, won the open blades final, beating New Zealand team members Allen Gemmell, of Loburn, who was second, and Brian Thomson, of West Melton, who was fourth.

In Waipukurau, Masterton shearer Matene Mason continued his winning form by taking the senior shearing final, in which 2009-10 intermediate champion Wi Ngarangione, of Gisborne, was second.

ENDS