Napier shearer John Kirkpatrick has taken two Southland
shears titles in just two days.
Kirkpatrick, who with Taranaki shearer Paul Avery won a World
teams title in Norway in 2008, won the Southland Shears'
feature lambshearing title at the Winton Show, 24 hours after
winning the Northern Southland Community Shears' ewes final
in a woolshed near Lumsden.
He won the same double last year but had to beat even tougher
opposition at the weekend, including Te Kuiti's five-times
World champion and reigning 16-times Golden Shears open
champion David Fagan, who reached both finals and was
runner-up yesterday.
They are among about 10 shearers considered to be serious
chances for the two machine shearing positions at this year's
World Championships during the Royal Welsh Show at
Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, from July 19 to 21.
Most were at the two Southland competitions, although team
selection is based only on the open finals at the Golden
Shears in Masterton in March and the New Zealand
championships in Te Kuiti in April.
Meanwhile, Taranaki-based Scottish champion Gavin Mutch, who
was beaten favourite in the world individual final won by
Avery in Norway 15 months ago, took advantage of the Kiwi
stars' absence from North Island competition by winning the
open final at the Wairoa Shears in the northern Hawke's Bay.
The 87 shearers included a 27-strong open-class field, among
them Far North shearer Matthew Smith, who less than 24 hours
earlier set a world ewe-shearing record of 578 in eight
hours.
Gisborne teenager Joel Henare and Christchurch woman
Angelique Miller (formerly Gage) won the open woolhandling
events in Southland on Friday and Saturday respectively, with
former three-times World champion Joanne Kumeroa, of
Wanganui, runner-up in the lambs final.
The three are among the frontrunners for New Zealand's two
World Championshsips woolhandling positions, to be decided in
a selection final during the Golden Shears.
