King Country guns rule in Tauranga shears

King Country guns rule in Tauranga shears

Shearing veterans David Fagan and Digger Balme kept the King Country flag aloft as they dominated two events in the Bay of Plenty on Saturday, shutting out two more young guns from Hawke's Bay.

The two were first and second respectively in a 15-lamb Open final at the Tauranga A and P Show Shears during the efternoon, and then repeated the result in a Speedshear at The Quarry Hotel, Te Puna, in the evening.

On both ocasions the chasers were led by Dannevirke shearer Adam Brausch, while fourth in the show final was Hawke's Bay-based Far North shearer Rowland Smith.

All four featured in a hectic race at the show where just over 19 seconds separated first from last, but it was still Fagan in front, finishing his 15 lambs in 12min 25.5sec, with Balme next off five seconds later.

With the show dispensing with on-board judging for the final, as part of a Shearing Sports New Zealand expriment to enhance the spectacle, judging took place solely in the pens, the placings still remaining the same as the order in which shearers had come off the board.

It was Fagan's 606th Open-class win, but his first since victories at the New Zealand Spring Championships in Waimate and the Poverty Bay Show in Gisborne a week apart in October.

World champion Cam Ferguson failed to make the final and was beaten in the Open Plate by Smith's brother, Mathew, but there was still success for Ferguson's home area of Central Hawke's Bay when 2010 New Zealand Intermediate champion Tysson Hema, of Waipukurau, won his first Senior title. The intermediate final was won by Sarah Goss, of Apiti, turning the tables on Gisborne shearer Henare Niania, by whom she had been beaten at Wairoa a week earlier, while the Junior final was won by Bryce Guy, of Kaeo, who had also won at Wairoa.

National rankings leader John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, headed south again to score his sixth win in six competitions this season with victory in the Open final at Tapawera, near Nelson. Four of the wins have been in the South Island.

The Tapawera Sports attracted unusual quality, with Kirkpatrick and fourth-placed Darfield-based Scots shearer Tom Wilson being former World champions, and runner-up and Taranaki-based Scotsman Gavin Mutch twice a World championships finalist.

Many of the shearers were today also competing at the Horowhenua show in Levin.

Results:

Tauranga A and P Show on Saturday, January 22, 2011:
Open final (15 lambs): David Fagan (Te Kuiti) 12min 25.5sec, 47.875pts, 1; Digger Balme (Te Kuiti) 12min 30.7sec, 48.602pts, 2; Adam Brausch (Dannevirke) 12min 42.1sec, 51.372pts, 3; Rowland Smith (Ruawai) 12min 44.9sec, 53.712pts, 4.
Open plate (10 lambs): Matthew Smith (Ruawai) 8min 21.3sec, 34.765pts, 1; Cam Ferguson (Waipawa) 8min 4.8sec, 36.04pts, 2; Dion King (Hastings) 7min 57.5sec, 37.765pts, 3; Stacey Te Huia (Te Kuiti) 9min 23.6sec, 40.68pts, 4.
Senior final (10 lambs): Tysson Hema (Waipukurau) 13min 32.8sec, 51.34pts, 1; Sheford Wilcox (Gisborne) 12min 54.3sec, 52.415pts, 2; Krishane Edmonds (Raetihi) 12min 51.9sec, 53.695pts, 3; Dylan Fowler (Temuka) 13min 37.1sec, 68.255pts, 4.
Intermediate final (5 lambs): Sarah Goss (Apiti) 7min 40.8sec, 34.64pts, 1; Henare Niania (Gisborne) 7min 41.5sec, 35.475pts, 2; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 7min 1.7sec, 37.885pts, 3; Sharnie Rimene (Masterton) 7min 25.8sec, 38.09pts, 4.
Junior final (3 lambs): Bryce Guy (Kaeo) 6min 48.8sec, 31.11pts, 1; David Gordon (Masterton) 6min 8.3sec, 32.085pts, 2; Simon Goss (Apiti) 6min 20.4sec, 34.36pts, 3; Tui Pene (Waipawa) 6min 16.6sec, 34.5pts, 4.

Tapawera Sports on Saturday January 22, 2011 :
Shearing:
Open final: John Kirkpatrick (Napier) 51.367pts, 1; Gavin Mutch (Whangamomona and Scotland ) 54.917pts, 2; Chris Jones (Renwick) 62.117pts, 3; Tom Wilson (Darfield and Scotland ) 63.45pts, 4
Open plate: Peter Lyall (Tapawera) 44.025pts, 1; Tony Nott ( Wakefield ) 45.075pts, 2; Sam Win (Ikamatua) 49.875pts, 3; Nick Nalder ( Upper Takaka ) 51.45pts, 4.
Senior final: Kirstie Hogg (Tapawera) 42.55pts, 1; Mike Bramley (Mt Somers) 44pts, 2; Brett Williams (Nelson) 45.4pts, 3; Hamish Barker (Tapawera) 48.75pts, 4.
Intermediate final: Jotham Rentoul (Nelson) 46.1pts, 1; Joyce Cosgrove (Stanley Brook) 61.367pts, 2; Brett Langrell (Temuka) 57.233pts, 3; Neil MacDonald (Tapawera) 68.483pts, 4;
Junior final: Pam Best (Tapawera) 65.3pts, 1; Vegar Hapnes (-) 59.2pts, 2; Joseph Stephens ( Ireland ) 65.35pts, 3; Tom Curnow (Wairau) 82.45pts, 4.
Woolhandling:
Senior: Paula Rentoul (Rakau) 141.2pts, 1; Joyce Cosgrove (Stanley Brook) 204pts, 2.
Junior: Dannah Emms (Takaka) 116pts, 1; Frank Bint (Tapawera), 150pts, 2.
Novice: Shelley King (-) 102pts, 1; Pam Best (Tapawera) 179pts, 2.
ENDS

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