Golden Shears 2014 - One step closer to the finals

Golden Shears 2014 - One step closer to the finals

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*One step closer to the finals*

The big players in the world of shearing have been fighting tooth and nail tonight in a do-or-die top 30 shootout for a place in tomorrow nights open shearing finals at the Golden Shears in Masterton.

There were no surprises when the line was drawn on the top 30 after the rounds of heats earlier today. All the top names were there. Shearing icon and 16-time Golden Shears champion David Fagan, reigning champ Rowland Smith, 4-time champion John Kirkpatrick and past crown holders Cam Ferguson, Dion King along with two time word champion from Australia, Shannon Warnest and current world champ, Scotland's Gavin Mutch.

The War Memorial Stadium reverberated with cheers as each competitor;the guns spilt between heats, waited for the word to fire into action.

The atmposhere has been electric, with handpieces working like warm knives through the sheeps wool.

The cull will be confirmed later tonight when the top 12 shears to go through to tomorrow's open semi finals are named.

The rest of the line-up for tonight includes the Open Wananga – Women's Sheating invitation, featuring NZ rugby 7s star Sarah Goss.

Another feature of the night programme is the transtasman woolhandling test. The annual woolhandling series between New Zealand and Australia has been dominated by the Kiwis, who’ve won 23 of the 31 tests.

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