NZ Agricultural Show: Canterbury Shears organisers seek entries for women’s event

Canterbury Shears women's and intermediate event hopeful Lydia Thomson, the No. 1-ranked junior shearer in New Zealand last season, in action at the Golden Shears last March. Photo / Pete Nikolaison

Organisers of the Canterbury Shears are still seeking entries for their women’s shearing event to be held in an early-evening session tomorrow.

It will be the first of the two days of the national Corriedale Shearing and Woolhandling Championships, held at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch.

While last year’s event was won by open shearer Sarah Hewson, of Blenheim, it did prove to be a valuable measuring stick for junior shearers Emma Martin, of Gore, and Lydia Thomson, of Rangiora, who finished second and third respectively.

Martin went on to win six shearing finals against male and female competitors during the season, including the New Zealand Shears junior title in Te Kūiti at the end of March last season.

Thomson was named Shearing Sports New Zealand’s No. 1-ranked junior shearer for the 2022-2023 season, reaching 19 finals and winning nine.

Each also shore in women’s finals at the Golden Shears in Masterton and at the New Zealand Shears and have made a successful progression to intermediate shearing this season, with Martin winning four out of five.

The two are expected to line up on Thursday, each hopeful of going at least one better in the women’s event in the absence of 2022 winner Hewson, now a mum and deciding against defending the title or competing in the earlier stages of the season.

Martin and Thomson are among nine women who have already shorn in grade finals against male counterparts this season, including New Zealand Shears women’s final winner and Woodville shearer Laura Bradley, who scored her first senior win at the Wairarapa A and P show last month.

The World Sheep Shearing Records Society also lists five women attempting woolshed tally records in New Zealand during the summer.

The evening session on Thursday starts at 5pm, and will also include open shearing’s Donaghys Canterbury All-Breeds Circuit final, and North Canterbury’s defence of the Colin King Shield against Southland, a rematch of the last challenge in which North Canterbury took the Shield off Southland at Pleasant Point on November 4.

Read more about shearing and woolhandling events here.

The teams will comprise one shearer from each of the four shearing grades.

Meanwhile, organisers are hoping for a significant late entry across all grades of woolhandling and shearing with 72 having entered online by Monday night.

They are also hoping entries could exceed 100 shearers and woolhandlers.

The woolhandling events during the daytime sessions on Thursday are parts of the South Island open, senior and junior woolhandling circuits, while the junior and intermediate shearing on Friday are parts of the Adaptive Health and Safety Canterbury-Marlborough Development Circuit - chasing places in a regional team of four travelling to the New Zealand Shears in Te Kūiti in April.

The open shearing heats on Friday are also the third round of the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit.

In the Circuit, 27 open shearers entered the opening leg at Alexandra almost seven weeks ago, chasing places in the circuit’s final at the Golden Shears in Masterton in March, and a chance to represent New Zealand in the 2024-2025 transtasman series.

The Circuit is currently led by Southland shearer and two-time title winner Nathan Stratford, who scored maximum points in the opening two rounds.

The open shearing title last year was won by Jack Fagan, of Te Kūiti, and the open woolhandling final by Joel Henare, from Gisborne.