Joel Henare, seen here at the Southern Shears in Gore, came second in the woolhandling opening round at the Golden Shears.
New Zealand’s hopes of moving back into champion world shearing and woolhandling ranks soared yesterday at the 64th Golden Shears in Masterton, as home-country representatives topped the points in the opening rounds of both blade shearing and woolhandling.
South Canterbury shearer Allan Oldfield headed a field of 32 as he began his bid to regain the bladeshearing title he won in France in 2019.
In the woolhandling, rookie international Marika Braddick, of Eketahuna and Motueka-based Joel Henare, from Gisborne, were one and two in a field of 36 chasing the title Henare won in 2012 and 2017.
But it was a different story in the machine shearing.
Southern Hawke’s Bay farmer and 2012 title-winning Scottish shearer Gavin Mutch led a pack of 51 hopefuls, finishing more than a point ahead of surprise second-place getter Adam Dickson, of the Falkland Islands.
Scotland teammate Hamish Mitchell was next, with New Zealanders Toa Henderson and Rowland Smith placing fourth and fifth respectively.
In the blade shearing, Oldfield opened up a near five-point lead on South African Teboho Nyatsa.
New Zealand veteran Tony Dobbs followed, then English shearer Tony Mudge and defending world champion Bonile Rabela, of South Africa.
South Australian sheep studmaster Johnathon Dalla was next – competing at his first Golden Shears in Masterton despite being Australia’s longest‑serving bladeshearing representative.
In the woolhandling, Braddick and Henare were followed by Australia’s Racheal Hutchison, then New Zealand-based Cook Islands representatives Keryn Herbert and Tina Elers, with 2014 world champion Hilary Bond-Harding, of England, next.
In each event, points from two rounds decide the qualifiers for the teams final tonight and the later stages of the individual championships on Saturday.
The machine shearers sheared two Perendales and three crossbred long-wool sheep in the first round, and today will shear five second-shear sheep each.
The blade shearers shore three crossbred sheep in the first round yesterday and will shear three Perendale ewes in the second round today.
The woolhandlers dealt with two Perendale fleeces and two crossbred long‑wool fleeces in their first round, and will handle four second‑shear fleeces in the next.
New Zealand – historically the dominant nation in world shearing and woolhandling championships – did not win any events at the 2023 championships in Scotland.
World Blade Shearing Round 1 (3 sheep): Allan Oldfield (New Zealand) 8m 46.703s, 38.005pts, 1; Teboho Nyatsa (South Africa) 11m 19.396s, 43.300pts, 2; Tony Dobbs (New Zealand) 10m 25.264s, 44.263pts, 3; Andrew Mudge (England) 9m 51.984s, 44.599pts, 4; Bonile Rabela (South Africa) 11m 03.277s, 46.824pts, 5; Johnathon Dalla (Australia) 11m 31.664s, 47.583pts, 6; George Mudge (England) 12m 31.366s, 49.238pts, 7; Martin Hopkins (Ireland) 10m 35.376s, 50.439pts, 8; Rhydian Evans (Wales) 12m 00.446s, 51.362pts, 9; Daniel Rogers (Australial) 10m 01.613s, 52.751pts, 10; William Craig (Scotland) 13m 15.371s, 53.769pts, 11; James Hopkins (Ireland) 12m 31.620s, 53.921pts, 12; Elfed Jackson (Wales) 9m 22.463s, 59.793pts, 13; Maureen Cadet (France) 17m 01.872s, 63.764pts, 14; Murray Craig (Scotland) 14m 34.722s, 66.066pts, 15; Loren Opstedahl (USA) 13m 40.557s, 68.028pts, 16; Shun Oishi (Japan) 19m 52.476s, 76.624pts, 17; Jan Van Den Hardenberg (Netherlands) 15m 55.167s, 78.418pts, 18; Sam McConnell (Northern Ireland) 18m 27.282s, 79.024pts, 19; Josu Ekisoain (Basque) 15m 54.093s, 79.045pts, 20; Doug Rathke (USA) 14m 09.835s, 79.162pts, 21; Odd Kristian Haaland (Norway) 14m 36.077s, 83.134pts, 22; Chris Coulter (Northern Ireland) 19m 03.346s, 84.167pts, 23; Karel Svarc (Czech Republic) 16m 19.676s, 84.314pts, 24; Ipar Arrinda (Basque) 18m 06.627s, 84.331pts, 25; Bart Van Den Hardenberg (Netherlands) 18m 39.354s, 84.968pts, 26; Jana Sinova (South Africa) 23m 50.226s, 90.181pts, 27; Aadam Kaivo (Estonia) 20m 12.752s, 94.308pts, 28; Gonzalo Olivares (Chile) 19m 50.330s, 94.847pts, 29; Lucas Vallejo (Argentina) 22m 19.494s, 95.315pts, 30; Bastian Gonzalez (Chile) 22m 04.478s, 106.224pts, 31; Quentin Mathieu (France) 18m 02.023s, 138.441pts, 32.
World Woolhandling Round 1 (4 fleeces): Marika Braddick (New Zealand) 73.343pts, 1; Joel Henare (New Zealand) 81.426pts, 2; Racheal Hutchinson (Australia) 84.111pts, 3; Keryn Herbert (Cook Islands) 86.708pts, 4; Tina Elers (Cook Islands) 86.720pts, 5; Hilary Bond -Harding (England) 94.724pts, 6; John Håkull (Norway) 95.226pts, 7; Charis Morrell (Switzerland) 103.804pts, 8; Jess Parkhouse (England) 106.311pts, 9; Rosie Keenan (Scotland) 110.631pts, 10; Lucie Grancher (France) 111.338pts, 11; Pilar Castro (Falkland Islands) 113.340pts, 12; Sarah-Jane Rees (Wales) 116.763pts, 13; Gabriela Schmidt- Morrell (Switzerland) 116.818pts, 14; Alexander Schoff (Australia) 120.260pts, 15; Talia Jones (Falkland Islands) 124.140pts, 16; Stefanie Kauschus (Germany) 124.493pts, 17; Lungani Maqakalana (South Africa) 131.227pts, 18; Katie O’Sullivan (Scotland) 134.230pts, 19; Jessica Morgan (Wales) 134.922pts, 20; Rachel Murphy (Northern Ireland) 152.890pts, 21; Ellen Murphy (Northern Ireland) 158.435pts, 22; Janco Botha (South Africa) 162.048pts, 23; Azbayar Chuluunbat (Monngoliai) 176.822pts, 24; Justine Eerden (Netherlands) 198.682pts, 25; Katherine Moser (USA) 200.286pts, 26; Doug Rathke (USA) 217.588pts, 27; Joanne Devaney (Ireland) 222.161pts, 28; Romain Picon (France) 223.430pts, 29; Roseen Crellin-Christian (Isle of Man) 227.099pts, 30; Lkham Bayer (Mongolia) 233.119pts, 31; Mikel Velasco (Basque) 234.554pts, 32; Janire Artabe (Basque) 240.787pts, 33; Hazel Crowe (Ireland) 256.204pts, 34; Hannah Moore (Isle of Man) 301.275pts, 35; Katrin Tahepold (Estonia) 324.380pts, 36.
World Shearing Round 1 (5 sheep): Gavin Mutch (Scotland) 5m 23.562s, 23.378pts, 1; Adam Dickson (Falkland Islands) 6m 21.080s, 24.854pts, 2; Hamish Mitchell (Scotland) 6m 02.521s, 25.726pts, 3; Toa Henderson (New Zealand) 5m 25.988s, 27.299pts, 4; Rowland Smith (New Zealand) 5m 48.871s, 27.444pts, 5; Daniel McIntyre (Australia) 6m 01.223s, 27.461pts, 6; Denis OSullivan (Ireland) 6m 17.857s, 28.093pts, 7; Llyr Jones (Wales) 6m 04.873s, 28.444pts, 8; Graeme Davidson (Larne) 6m 38.964s, 28.748pts, 9; Nicholas Greaves (England) 5m 45.751s, 28.888pts, 10; Gwion Evans (Wales) 6m 48.034s, 29.802pts, 11; Jeremy Leygonie (France) 6m 46.357s, 30.518pts, 12; Noel Gardiner (Cook Islands) 6m 55.726s, 30.786pts, 13; Matt Smith (England) 6m 20.233s, 31.812pts, 14; Luis Pincol (Chile) 7m 09.306s, 32.265pts, 15; Serjbudee Lkhagvasuren (Mongolia) 7m 49.707s, 32.685pts, 16; Evan Jones (Falkland Islands) 6m 48.064s, 32.803pts, 17; Sam Bacon (Australia) 6m 01.784s, 32.889pts, 18; Alex Moser (USA) 6m 27.513s, 32.976pts, 19; Baasandorj Erdenetsogt (Mongolia) 8m 00.402s, 34.420pts, 20; Justin Anderson (Switzerland) 7m 20.931s, 35.647pts, 21; Lars Sønstevoldhaugen (Norway) 7m 34.225s, 36.511pts, 22; Patrick Corrigan (Ireland) 8m 08.899s, 40.245pts, 23; Mikel Etxebarria (Basque) 8m 09.261s, 40.263pts, 24; Alex Butler (Northern Ireland) 7m 50.233s, 40.712pts, 25; Max Winders (Cook Islands) 5m 56.741s, 41.037pts, 26; Hans Van Schalkwyk (South Africa) 8m 06.659s, 41.533pts, 27; Paul Astin (USA) 6m 57.636s, 41.882pts, 28; Dumisane Xhaza (South Africa) 7m 17.901s, 41.895pts, 29; Felix Cesbron (France) 8m 25.307s, 42.665pts, 30; Viktor Larsson (Sweden) 8m 32.486s, 43.224pts, 31; Odd Kristian Haaland (Norway) 7m 20.996s, 43.850pts, 32; Ipar Arrinda (Basque) 9m 46.595s, 46.330pts, 33; Alexis Baldassari (Uruguay) 7m 56.963s, 46.648pts, 34; Daniel Creer (Isle of Man) 7m 51.580s, 46.779pts, 35; Bastian Gonzalez (Chile) 9m 50.532s, 46.927pts, 36; Christian Zill (Germany) 9m 02.444s, 48.122pts, 37; Geritt Crum (Netherlands) 9m 57.652s, 50.283pts, 38; Marek Langer (Czech Repubic) 9m 23.124s, 50.556pts, 39; Felix Riedel Germany) 8m 55.409s, 50.770pts, 40; Daniel Vallejo (Argentina) 7m 05.896s, 52.695pts, 41; Lucas Vallejo (Argentina) 8m 27.667s, 52.983pts, 42; Martin Schindler (Switzerland) 10m 59.938s, 52.997pts, 43; Aadam Kaivo (Estonia) 11m 08.336s, 54.017pts, 44; Phillip Christian (Isle of Man) 7m 54.915s, 56.146pts, 45; Johannes Kloosterman (Netherlands) 12m 25.188s, 57.259pts, 46; Jakub Toms (Czech Republic) 13m 32.804s, 63.240pts, 47; Siim Sellis (Estonia) 13m 01.778s, 63.489pts, 48; Helder Canto (Uruguay) 9m 52.870s, 69.043pts, 49; Yuki Yamomoto (Japan) 15m 20.078s, 70.204pts, 50; Gola Tateishi (Japan) 16m 13.265s, 73.063pts (DNF).