It was a bit of a case of the boss always wins in Te Kūiti last night, as Wairarapa shearing contractor Paerata Abraham won the New Zealand Shearing Championships open speed shear for a third time.
Abraham had to wait nine years to add to his back-to-back wins in 2015 and 2016.
His victory came with a cost for Welsh shearer Llyr Jones, who worked for Abraham in the summer down under.
Jones received the dreaded “DQ” [disqualified] after looking like he was winning, with 1.29 seconds over his boss, and shearing the four-man final of two sheep each in 41 seconds.
The demise stopped what would otherwise have been a UK clean sweep in the three events on the opening night of the three-day championships in Te Kūiti’s Les Munro Centre.