Rowland Smith after his sixth Golden Shears open final win in Masterton in March 2019. Photo / Peter Nikolaison
Rowland Smith after his sixth Golden Shears open final win in Masterton in March 2019. Photo / Peter Nikolaison
Hawke's Bay shearer Rowland Smith celebrated victories at two shearing sports competitions over the weekend.
Smith's wins at the Taihape A and P Show on Saturday and the Rotorua A and P Show's Agrodome Shears on Sunday followed a win at Wairoa in his first competition for the New Year a week earlier.
After a 1.4pts victory over runner-up and Otorohanga shearer Digger Balme at Wairoa, the 32-year-old Smith stretched the margins to 3.35pts over leading challenger and four-times Golden Shears open winner and fellow Hawke's Bay shearer John Kirkpatrick on Saturday, and 4.6pts over King Country shearer Mark Grainger, the runner-up in Sunday.
Smith's wins have reinforced his favouritism for the 60th Golden Shears open title held in Masterton on March 7.
If Smith were to take out the Golden Shears it would be his seventh victory in the big event, overtaking Brian "Snow" Quinn's six wins from 1965-1972 and second only to the 16 wins by Sir David Fagan spanning 24 finals from 1986-2009.
The other big winner at the weekend was former world teams champion woolhandler Keryn Herbert, who claimed the open woolhandling titles at both Taihape and Rotorua, the first North Island woolhandling competitions since the Central Hawke's Bay show in mid-November.
Herbert, now with 45 open wins to her name, had last won at the Poverty Bay Show in Gisborne in October 2018, but had a string of near-misses this season, placing third back at Gisborne, followed by second placings at Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Manawatu and Central Hawke's Bay.
Taihape teenager Reuben Alabaster became possibly the youngest-ever senior final winner with his victory at the Rotorua show, at the age of 16.
The winner of just one title in his only intermediate season in 2018-2019 and six as a junior the previous season, including the 2018 New Zealand junior championship, Alabaster won by 0.81pts from runner-up Brook Hamerton, of Hastings.
Among the vanquished was Simon Goss in fourth place, who on Saturday won at Taihape.
Also tasting victory in a different sporting code was sister Sarah Hirini, who captained the New Zealand Women's Sevens rugby team to gold in Hamilton on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Marton shearer and darts player Jimmy Samuels went close to just about the ultimate in double tops with the shearing development teams match at Taihape – his second international appearance in two different sports just three months apart.
Keryn Herbert Left), winner of the Taihape and Rotorua open woolhandling titles during the weekend, pictured here at the Great Raihania Shears in October. Photo / SSNZ
The shearing board replaced the darts board for Samuels as he and Southland shearer Brett Roberts won the two places in the day's Shearing Sports New Zealand Development CP Wool Series team and then beat the touring Wales development team of Llion Jones and Ceredig Lewis.
Just over three months ago, Samuels was in a Phoenix darts New Zealand Silver Stems team competing in the US and finishing fourth in a world tournament.
It was a heavier piece of steel on Saturday as Samuels and Roberts first qualified for places in the team by being the top two Taihape open shearing heats competitors who had not previously represented New Zealand at shearing.
They then slugged it out for fastest time in the international of 10 second-shear sheep each, with Samuels just getting the nod in finishing in 9min 52sec. With the better quality, Roberts claimed overall top individual honours as New Zealand won by 8.15pts.
New Zealand representative Troy Pyper extended a dominance of recent shearing competitions in the top half of the South Island when he successfully defended his Tapawera Sports open title south of Nelson on Saturday.
Reuben Alabaster, who at the age of just 16 won the Agrodome Shears senior shearing final on Sunday, pictured here at his NZ Championships junior win in 2018. Photo / SSNZ
It was Pyper's sixth win of the 2019-2020 season, and third in the first three weekends since the December break.
Among the wins were the Marlborough and Nelson A and P shows titles in November.
On Saturday he dominated in all aspects, finishing the 20 sheep in just under 17min 50sec, about 1min 15sec faster than runner-up and local hope Travers Baigent, of Wakefield, and also had the better quality to win by over 7pts.
RESULTS of Shearing Sports competitions in New Zealand during the weekend:
Taihape A and P Show Shears on Saturday, January 25, 2020:
CP Wool Series, Match 2 (10 sheep): New Zealand Development 79.1pts (Brett Roberts 9min 54sec, 36.3pts; Jimmy Samuels 9min 52sec, 42.8pts) beat Wales Development 87.25pts (Llion Jones 10min 12sec, 42.8pts; Ceredig Lewis 11min 17sec, 44.45pts) by 8.15pts.
Open final (20 sheep): Rowland Smith (Maraekakaho) 16min 43sec, 57.1pts, 1; John Kirkpatrick (Pakipaki) 16min 58sec, 60.45pts, 2; David Buick (Pongaroa) 17min 10sec, 60.9pts, 3; Digger Balme (Otorohanga) 16min 27sec, 62.8pts, 4; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 17min 15sec, 63.35pts, 5; Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 18min 25sec, 63.5pts, 6.
Senior final (10 sheep): Simon Goss (Mangamahu) 9min 58sec, 37.9pts, 1; Jordie Grant (Hastings) 10min 17sec, 40.45pts, 2; Llyr Jones (Llanwrst, Wales) 10min 11sec, 42.65pts, 3; Brook Hamerton (Hastings) 11min 40sec, 43.4pts, 4; Reuben Alabaster (Taihape) 11min 41sec, 44.95pts, 5; Gethin Lewis (Rhayader, Wales) 10min 8sec, 45pts, 6.
Junior final (4 sheep): Adam Gordon (Masterton) 7min 32sec, 29.85pts, 1; Will May (North Lincolnshire, England) 7min 15sec, 34.5pts, 2; Jack Samuel (Llandrindod, Wales) 8min 38sec, 34.65pts, 3; Sam Jones (Powys, Wales) 7min 35sec, 36.5pts, 4; George Grossey (Somerset, England) 7min 56sec, 38.05pts, 5; Heath Barnsdall (Piopio) 8min 49sec, 38.45pts, 6.
