Sefo snares second saw title

TROPHY HAUL: Dual world champion single sawyer Faavae Sefo with some of the spoils he won at Rotorua. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Crack Masterton sawyer Faavae Sefo has won his second world single saw title.

His success in the premier event at a major wood chopping and sawing show in Rotorua over the weekend replicated his achievement at the Royal Sydney Show in 2013. And it came despite the 47-year-old still feeling the effects of an elbow injury which has troubled him for several months.

"It's pretty much a case of grin and bear it. There's still a bit of pain there but you just have to knuckle down and shut it out," Sefo said yesterday.

"It is better than what it was though, so hopefully we're on the right track."

Sefo went into the Rotorua meet optimistic he had done the work to have a decent crack at the world title but at the same time acutely aware the quality of the opposition would be such that nothing could be taken for granted.

"Honestly there were probably four or five other sawyers who could take it out, it was just a matter of who got it right on the day."

Sefo qualified for the final by placing second in his heat behind the well-performed Australian Jamie Head, the latter beating him by the narrowest of margins in an exciting finish, and it was Head who was to prove his main opposition in the decider as well. However, this time it was Sefo who called the tune, a video replay showing he had a full stroke to spare at the end.

"You don't really know what's happening during the race, you've only got 15 seconds or so and the whole focus is on your own performance, you can't afford to worry about what anybody else is doing," Sefo said.

"It's only when you see the video replay that you get a good idea of how things went compared to the rest."

Adding to the challenge at Rotorua was the hardness of the wood with Sefo saying it was certainly firmer, and consequently more difficult to cut, than he had anticipated.

"It was tough going. I was sweating so much after the final you'd have thought I had been standing under a tap," he said. "But it was the same for everybody, you just had to grit the teeth and go for it."

While his world championship victory was the obvious highlight for Sefo at the Rotorua carnival he also combined with Warren Riddle to win the premier double saw event and made it through to the final of the world championship underhand chop where he placed fifth.

Sefo, who has represented New Zealand on numerous occasions, will now take a few days off before returning to training with the aim of again making his presence felt at the Royal Sydney Show over Easter weekend.