Dramatic decider in blade shears

Canterbury workmates Brian Thomson and Allan Gemmell have won the two blade-shearing places in the New Zealand team for the 14th Golden Shears World Championships in Wales this year.

The qualifying series was held at the Oxford A and P Show, west of Christchurch.

Thomson had already qualified before the day started but Gemmell had to come from behind to beat Geraldine shearer Phil Oldfield to decide the second position in an unprecedented four-sheep shear-off.

Trailing on points at the start of the day Gemmell forced the decider when he was second in the Oxford Open Blades final, for which Oldfield failed to qualify.

Earlier, Thomson also failed to qualify for the Oxford Show final which was won by Mike McConnell, of South Canterbury, whose points were still insufficient to put him into World Championships reckoning.

Thomson and Gemmell will be members of a six-strong Shearing Sports New Zealand team for the championships at the Royal Welsh Show on July 19-22.

They will join woolhandlers Keryn Herbert, from Te Awamutu, and reigning champion Sheree Alabaster, of Taihape, and Golden Shears open shearing champion Cam Ferguson, of Waipawa. The sixth member will be decided in the Open shearing final at the New Zealand Championships in Te Kuiti next Saturday.

- NZPA