The weather bomb across the North Island has wrought havoc through most areas but in Masterton, apart from the noise on the tin roof, there’s little disruption to the last day of the Golden Shears and World shearing championships.
Almost the only issue seemed to be the din on the tin of the War Memorial Stadium roof in the worst weather Masterton has had in Golden Shears weeks since its big annual event was first held in 1961.
Barely audible above the noise, Golden Shears president Mavis Mullins said with the rain forecast many of the 4600 sheep required during the four days of the championships had been brought and shedded closer to town as a precaution against calamity.
It included some long-wooled sheep specifically required for the World Championships events, which had they been held back on their own station would probably have been unable to reach Masterton because of the likely flooding of a stream on a farm access route.
It is the fourth time the World Championships have been held at the Golden Shears, and today people were recalling how Cyclone Bola started to hit New Zealand barely 24 hours after the World Championships were held in the stadium in 1988.
The last day of the four-day championships started about 8am and are expected to end soon after 10pm with the naming of the World machine shearing, blade shearing and woolhandling champions, and the Golden Shears Open shearing and woolhandling champions.
Last night New Zealand claimed two of the three teams titles, Hawke’s Bay shearers John Kirkpatrick and Cam Ferguson just beating Scotsmen Gavin Mutch and Hamish Mitchell in the machine shearing, and woolhandlers Joanne Kumeroa, of Whanganui, and Joel Henare, of Gisborne, winning their final by a comfortable margin from runners-up Aroha Garvin and Racheal Hutchison, representing Australia.
Black-singleted Canterbury wool-clippers Brian Thomson and Mike McConnell were part of a predictable outcome in the bladeshearing final, finishing second to defending champions and favourites Zweliwile Hans and Mayenzeke Shweni, of South Africa.
In the first major event of today, Shweni won the Golden Shears Open blades shearing final, beating Hans the TAB favourite who now appears to have a job ahead of him in trying to win a fourth individual World title tonight.
