Young Napier shearer Paraki Puna came within a micron or two of a unique victory when he was runner-up in the New Zealand Merino Championships Senior final as a new competition season opened in the Central Otago town of Alexandra on Friday and Saturday.
The 20-year-old, in his first Senior competition since winning the New Zealand Championships Senior title in Te Kuiti in April, told friends before the weekend's event: "I can't do merinos and I don't know how I'll do."
But he handled the big wrinklies in New Zealand's only finewool competition, was the top qualifier in the semi-final, and came short by just 0.126pts in being beaten by Tasmanian visitor Jack Glover in the final, in which he was second to finish, shearing his five sheep in 17min 39.991sec, and beat the Australian off the board by almost 1min 20sec.
Glover's greater experience on merinos told as he packed the quality to claim the honours, although Puna claimed honours for the best quality in the grade during the earlier rounds.
Two Dannevirke competitors reached finals in the woolhandling events, with Cory Tau second in the Junior final, and Magi Harrison third in the Senior final.