David Gordon addresses the crowd after wining the Golden
Shears novice title in Masterton. Photo by Shearing Sports
NZ.
MASTERTON: The first champion at the 50th anniversary
Golden Shears in Masterton on Wednesday night was quick to
thank not only his shearing-mad father, but also to express
gratitude to his mother - for doing his washing.
The thanks came from David Gordon (13), a youthful home-town
hero who became the youngest champion in Golden Shears
history when he won the novice Golden Shears final.
But it had not been an easy day for the boy, who almost
disappeared under the weight of favouritism after winning
four other novice competitions in the season.
With a cut sheep in the heats, he thought he was out of the
contest, but scraped into the semifinals, where he took
control, heading the top six for the final with a four-point
advantage and scoring one of Golden Shears biggest shearing
winning margins of more than 10 points in the final.
His father, open-class shearer and shearing contest
commentator Nuki Gordon conceded his son had been under
pressure, but he had been told if he was going to reach the
top he would have to learn how to handle it. That pressure
had faced sister Cushla, who won the same title two years
ago, aged 18.
While having competed last year at the age of 12, and having
first shorn a sheep at the age of 7, David had still managed
only the occasional half-hour's shearing in the woolshed. His
father says, if pressed, he could do 80 in a day, but he has
not yet done a tally.
Among those eliminated in the semifinals was David Avery
(15), son of World champion Paul Avery, while another to make
it through the early stages was Jack Fagan (18), who
qualified for the junior semifinals to start a Golden Shears
career in the footsteps of famous father David Fagan, who on
Friday starts a bid for a 17th Golden shears open title.
Results from Wednesday's shearing competitions. -
Golden Shears Novice final (3 sheep): David Gordon
(Masterton) 7min 2.825sec, 29.141pts, 1; Cody Harrison
(Dannevirke) 7min 14.644sec, 39.232pts, 2; Manahi Fox
(Masterton) 6min 51.461sec, 45.073pts, 3; Heidi Kerley
(Gisborne) 10min 54.29sec, 45.715pts, 4; Monique Taylor
(Feilding) 9min 24.922sec, 46.246pts, 5; Ethan Pankhurst
(Masterton) 7min 9.948sec, 47.997pts.
- Doug Laing
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