MEDIA RELEASE

On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand

March 1, 2013

Guns Keep Blazing As Golden Shears Shootout Begins

All of the top guns have made it safely through the first round heats of the 53rd Golden Shears Open championship heading for tonight’s quarterfinal Top 30 Shootout.

Heading the qualifiers after 64 shore in the heats in Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium today was defending champion and four-times winner John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, six-tenths of a point ahead of World champion and Taranaki-based Scottish farmer and shearer Gavin Mutch.

TAB favourite Rowland Smith, winner of eight events around the country since mid-January, was third, with South Island hope Nathan Stratford qualifying in fourth place and legendary Te Kuiti and 16-times winner David Fagan fifth.

Among others to qualify were the two South Australian members of the Australian transtasman test team, two-times World champion Shannon Warnest, of Willalooka, and Justin Dolphin, of Naracoote.

Two others from overseas who qualified were Englsih shearer Adam Berry, from Cumbria, surviving in 9th place, and Scotsman and South Island-based shearing instructor and former World champion Tom Wilson, in 22nd place.

The shearers shore six sheep each in the heats, Mutch posting the fastest time of 6min 12.163sec, almost half-a-minute ahead of the next quickest, Kirkpatrick. The two also posted the best board shearing points, while up-and-coming Te Kuiti shearer Mark Grainger, posted the best pen-points in qualifying in sixth place overall, aiming to become one of the few who will have shorn in Golden Shears finals in all grades from Junior to Open.

With points reverting to scratch at each stage, shearers shear eight sheep each in the quarterfinals, 12 qualifying for the semi-finals of 10 sheep each tomorrow afternoon (Saturday), and then the best six contesting the shearing world’s glamour event over 20 sheep each tomorrow night.

Qualifiers for tonight’s Open quarterfinal Top 30 Shootout: John Kirkpatrick (Napier), Gavin Mutch (Whangamomona/Scotland), Rowland Smith (Hastings), Nathan Stratford (Invercargill), David Fagan (Te Kuiti), Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti), Digger Balme (Te Kuiti), Darin Forde (Lornville), Adam Brausch (Dannevirke), Dion King (Hastings), Adam Berry (England), Axle Reid (Taihape), Deano Smith (Gisborne), Shane Rawlinson (Matau), Cam Ferguson (Waipawa), Tony Coster (Rakaia), Shannon Warnest (Australia), Ian Kirkpatrick (Gisborne), Murray Henderson (Feilding), Justin Dolphin (Australia), Peter Jackson (Palmerston North), Tom Wilson (Darfield/Scotland), Peter Clendon (Masterton), Chris Vickers (Palmerston), Aaron Haynes (Feilding), Shaun Mathieson (Riverton), Nuki Gordon (Masterton), Paerata Abraham (Dannevirke), Grant Smith (Rakaia), Phill Wedd (Napier).

ENDS