Henare leads Gisborne trio into Golden Shears semis

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

WOOLHANDLING hot favourite Joel Henare this morning closed in on his 100th open-class victory and a sixth consecutive win at the 58th Golden Shears championships in Masterton.

Henare will lead a triple Gisborne assault in the open woolhandling semifinals after dominating the quarterfinals earlier today.

He scored an excellent 74.662 to top the quarterfinals, with Gisborne’s Maryanne Baty second on 105.780.

Another Gisborne woolhandler, Brittany Tibble, also made the last eight in placing seventh on 138.050.

Several other Gisborne competitors advanced in yesterday’s day 2 action.

Tameka Hema moved into the woolhandling senior semifinals while Tramon Campbell is into the junior semifinals.

Ramone Smith booked a place in the senior semifinals of the shearing.

Meanwhile, Henare and shearer Rowland Smith, of Hastings, remained the hottest favourites in TAB shearing sports betting history.

Rowland Smith, the 2014 world champion and four-times Golden Shears winner, continued his march towards a successful defence of his open title by heading the field in the heats and quarterfinals yesterday.

Of more than 20 events being decided in the three-day championships, which have attracted over 300 competitors, 13 will be decided today.