February 25, 2018.
Smith completes pre-Shears treble with Pahiatua win
Hawke’s Bay shearer Rowland Smith rounded-off his preparation for his defence of the Golden Shears open title by
completing a second consecutive cleansweep of the pre-shears weekend treble at the Pahiatua Shears today.
Smith also won the Taumarunui Shears Open title on Friday and the Apiti Sports Shears Open title on Saturday.
The 2014 World champion won all three events last year before going to Masterton to win his fourth Golden Shears Open
title, and has now won 36 Open finals in New Zealand in a row, his only blemish since the end of Janury 2017 being when
he was a semi-final elimination at the Tauranga A and P Show six weeks ago.
The 2012 World champion, Taranaki farmer and Scotland international Gavin Mutch, was today runner-up for the eighth time
since winning the final at Tauranga, and reigning World champion John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, had his 13th top-three
placing in a season which has yielded just one one win.
But the gap has been closing, Smith winning today by just 0.13pts, needing the better combinstion of quality points to
beat Mutch, who shore the 20 sheep in 16min 37.33sec, first to finish by 15 seconds as the first five all shoire quicker
than anyone in last year’s Pahiatua final.
The three are expected to be the first three fravourites for the Golden Shears Open final when the TAB opens book, in
addition to a Smith v The Field option which opened almost a fortnight ago.
The only change to calculation was the emergence Smith’s fellow World Record breaking brother Matthew, who was fourth
today, home from England for a short time to receive his Master Shearer award at the Golden Shears.
Woodville shearer Tegwyn Bradley had his seventh in win in his last eight finals to claim the Senior title today, by
just over a point from runner-up and Gore-based Lionel Taumata, there was a winning margin of just 0.34pts in the
Intermediate final won by the Intermediate final, by beating French Golden Shears lower grades hope Jeremy Leygonie, and
14-year-old Reuben Alabaster scored his second win of the weekend and is a strong prospect to become the youngest to win
the Golden Shears Junior title – aged just 14.
The Pahiatua Shears attracted 66 shearers to a Mangaone Valley woolshed southeast of Pahiatua, a huge decline sincethe
heydays of the 1970s when over 200 shearers competed.
The 58th Golden Shears start inm Masterton on Thursday and finish on Saturday. They will be preceded by the Pre-Shears
Woolhandling Championships at Riverside Farm, north of Masterton, on Wednesday.
RESULTS from the Pahiatua Shears at Fouhy Family Farm Mangaone Valley, on Sunday, February 25, 2018:
Open final (20 sheep): Rowland Smith (Maraekakaho) 16min 55.73sec, 60.787pts, 1; Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Whangamomona)
16min 57.33sec, 60.917pts, 2; John Kirkpatrick (Napier) 17min 0.73sec, 63.737pts, 3; Matthew Smith (Ruswai/Cornwal,
England) 16min 52.11sec, 64.206pts, 4; David Buick (Pongaroa) 17min 6.17sec, 64.259pts, 5; Murray Henderson
(Halcombe)18min 46.9sec, 70.095pts, 6.
Senior final (12 sheep): Tegwyn Brsdley (Woodville) 13min 8.12sec, 50.406pts, 1; Lionel Taumata (Taumarunui/Gore) 13min
19.27sec, 51.464pts, 2; Jade Maguire Ratima (Winton) 14min 0.63sec, 51.866pts, 3; David Gordon (Masterton) 13min
50.05sec, 52.153pts, 4; Ricci Stevens (Napier) 12min 48.57sec, 53.763pts, 5; Sean Gouk (Masterton) 13min 59.15sec,
54.458pts, 6.
Intermediate final (8 sheep): Brandon Maguire Ratima (Winton) 11min 6.68sec, 39.334pts, 1; Jeremy Leygonie (France)
11min 0.36sec, 39.768pts, 2; Tawera Brown (Martinborough) 11min 49.69sec, 45.61pts, 3; Daniel Seed (Woodville) 11min
3.11sec, 46.906pts, 4; Paora Moanaroa (Eketahnuna) 10min 19.61sec, 47.106pts, 5; Emily Te Kapa (Scotland) 11min 45.4sec,
47.52pts, 6.
Junior final (5 sheep): Reuben Alabaster (Taihape) 10min 7.14sec, 40.157pts, 1; Jonathan Painter (Pahiatua) 10min
16.04sec, 40.802pts, 2; Matthew Smith (Otorohanga) 11min 16.07sec, 41.404pts, 3; Liam Pritchard (Pongaroa) 10min
48.12sec, 41.806pts, 4; Joseph Gordon (Masterton) 11min 47.87sec, 46.33pts, 5; Mark Baxter (Pongaroa) 11min 47.87sec,
57.394pts, 6.
ends