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Super six shootout for shear sports guns in Christchurch

October 25, 2016.


Joel Henare - Former World woolhandling champion Joel Henare, of Gisborne, in action at Friday’s Great Raihania Shears in Hastings. He won the Open final and heads the qualifiers for a Top Six Shootout at the Canterbury Show next month to find two woohandlers to represent New Zealand at the 40th anniversary World Shearing and woolhandling Championships in Invercargill onFebruary 8-11, 2017.

Super six shootout for shear sports guns in Christchurch

Six shearers and six woolhandlers have been named for the Top Six Shootouts to select the Shearing Sports New Zealand team for the 2017 World Championships.

The trialists were named at the end of a preliminary series of six points events which spanned nine months from the Northern Southland Community Shears in Lumsden in January to the Royal Show’s Great Raihania Shears in Hastings on Friday.

The shootouts will be held at the Canterbury Show on November 10-11, and the top two shearers and the top two woolhandlers will be named along with two blade shearers to represent New Zealand at the 40th anniversary World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Invercargill on February 8-11.

Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman Sir David Fagan said the long and tough process was needed to select the best competitors in a combination of wool types.

The shootouts in Christchurch will bring together a combination of long wool, second shear and lambs shearing for the shearers, and long wool and second-shear for the woolhandlers, duplicating the conditions of the finals at the World Championshipsthree months later.

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Reigning World shearing champion Rowland Smith, of Hastings, and 2012 champion woolhandler Joel Henare, of Gisborne, dominated the points rounds, each winning five of their six shows.

But it will be back to scratch for the shootouts with the winner and runner-up in each category decided only on their shearing or woolhandling performance on the day.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Sir David, who is now able to sit back and watch, having retired from a competition career which earned him five World individual titles and six teams titles in representing New Zealand at nine World Championships’ from 1986 to 2010.

All six shearers who have qualified for the shootouts have represented New Zealand, as have four of the six qualifying woolhandlers.

Qualifiers for the Shearing Sports New Zealand World championships team selection trials in Christchurch next month are:

Woolhandling (November 10): Joel Henare (Gisborne), Pagan Karauria (Alexandra), Sheree Alabaster (Taihape), Tia Potae (Milton), Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti), Maryanne Baty (Gisborne).

Shearing (November 11): Rowland Smith (Hastings), John Kirkpatrick (Napier), Nathan Stratford (Invercargill), David Buick (Pongaroa), Aaron Haynes (Feilding), Darin Forde (Lornville).

ENDS


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