Otago shearing title stays in Hawke's Bay

Central Hawke's Bay shearer Cam Ferguson has made his strongest case for rolling the veteran guns in the race for places at this year's world championships by winning the prestigious Otago open title in Balclutha.

Ferguson, 26, was third off the board in what was an all-Hawke's Bay race for time-honours in the final yesterday, which ended with the Bay stretching an Otago open stranglehold to it's sixth year, but he picked-up enough points in judging to head off Napier gun and four-times winner John Kirkpatrick by 0.15pts.

Hastings-based Dion King, the 2007 winner who is home from Australia to challenge for the big titles, was third.

Kirkpatrick finished the 20 sheep in 17min 31.09sec, with five seconds to King, another five to Ferguson, and almost 38 seconds more to Te Kuiti's James Fagan.

Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford tailed the five-man field in 19min 6.05sec. Ferguson had been top qualifier after the semifinals, in which King Country icon David Fagan was eliminated.

The championship was the first leg of a traditional but unofficial four-week grand slam dating back almost 40 years, and which continues at next weekend's Southern Shears in Gore and culminates in Masterton's Golden Shears next week.

It carries the first of two black-singlet places at the world championships in Wales.

Missing from Balclutha was reigning world champion Paul Avery, who competed at Te Puke and had to settle for second to another championships team aspirant in Dean Ball, of Te Kuiti.

Gisborne teenager and New Zealand trans-Tasman series representative Joel Henare retained his New Zealand Woolhandler of the Year title at Balclutha, his third title of the post-Christmas stage of the season and firming favouritism to take one of the two world championships woolhandling berths in a selection trial to be held during the Golden Shears.