Overdue win at Taihape Shears

The lady in the office gets overdue win at Taihape Shears

Former World champion woolhandler Sheree Alabaster would have been a busy lady helping in the office at the Taihape A and P Show shears today(Saturday).

But the local schoolteacher, who has won about 60 titles at the top level, including the World Championships final in Norway in 2008, still had time to get the monkey off her back at her home show, where she’s won the glamour woolhandling event just once in 16 years of trying.

“Not sure when it was, but I know it was a long time ago,” she said after the first North Island second-shear woolhandling competition of the season. “I’m stoked.”

The fact is that it was in 2006, and she’d since been runner-up six times and third twice.

It was a good one to win, scoring more maximum points in the World Championships national team selection North Island series, in a five-handler final that included three leading South Island series contenders she’s now likely to meet in an interisland showdown at the Golden Shears in Masterton in March, to find the two woolhandlers to represent New Zealand at the World Championships in France in July.

Alabaster, who last April won the New Zealand Shearing Championships Open woolhandling final for an 8th time, is currently second in the North Island series behind 2010 World Teams champion teammate Keryn Herbert, Te Kuiti, who failed to qualify for today’s final.

The runner-up today was former New Zealand championships Senior title Brittany Tibble, of Gisborne, who is yet to win an Open final, but she showed the breakthrough could be near by beating leading South Island series hopes Chelsea Collier, of Gore, Pagan Karauria, of Alexandra, and reigning World champion Joel Henare, from Gisborne but soon heading back to Motueka where he has been based the last two years.

The 2014 World shearing champion, Rowland Smith, took another step on a determined path he’s following towards trying to regain the title with a crushing victory over reigning World champion and fellow Hawke’s Bay gun and other North Island hopefuls in today’s Taihape Open shearing final.

Scoring a third win in eight days, reinforcing his favouritism to retain the Golden Shears and New Zealand titles, which will decide the two World title contenders, Smith ripped through the 20 sheep today in 17min 2sec, putting a full sheep around the others in the six-man final, except Pongaroa shearer David Buick, who finished in 17min 41sec.

Also claiming the best quality points, and with Buick suffering in the pen judging, Smith scored his fourth consecutive Taihape Open win by beating runner-up Kirkpatrick by 5.4pts, with third place going to King Country shearer Mark Grainger.

Buick was fourth and new England World Championships shearer Stuart Connor was fifth in his first Open final in New Zealand.

The Puha family left Taihape with a bootload of prizes after Golden Shears title-winning brother-and-sister Connor and Ngaira Puha won the Senior shearing and woolhandling finals respectively, while nephew Cortez Ostler won the Junior woolhandling final.

Eketehuna shearer Paora Moanaroa won the Intermediate shearing final by 1.3pts from 15-year-old runner-up and 2018 New Zealand Junior champion Reuben Alabaster, of Taihape, and the Junior event today provided a one-two finish for Wales, with victory to Emlyn Jones, of Capel-Curig.

It was not so successful for the Wales touring team however, with members Lloyd Rees and Aled Jones beaten for the second time in two matches against local show selections, this time the Taihape show pair of brothers Jimmy Samuels, of Marton, and Southland-based Leon Samuels.

RESULTS from the Taihape A and P Show Shears at Taihape on Saturday, January 26, 2019:

Shearing:

Wales Tour Match (10 sheep): Taihape Show (Leon Samuels 9min 36sec, 42.3pts; Jimmy Samuels 10min 32sec, 44.6pts) 86;9pts, beat Wales (Lloyd Rees 10min 20sec, 44.8pts; Aled Jones 11min 11sec, 50.95pts) 95.7pts.

Open final (20 sheep): Rowland Smith (Maraekakaho) 17min 2sec, 59.65pts, 1; John Kirkpatrick (Pakipaki) 18min 33sec, 65.05pts, 2; Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 19min 37sec, 68.3pts, 3; David Buick (Pongaroa) 17min 41sec, 69.1pts, 4; Stuart Connor (Banbury, England) 18min 19sec, 71.15pts, 5; Jimmy Samuels (Marton) 18min 32sec, 76.15pts, 6.

Senior final (9 sheep): Connor Puha (Kimbolton) 10min 51sec, 40.55pts, 1; Elgan Jones (Wales) 11min 11sec, 43.11pts, 2; Sean Gouk (Eketahuna) 10min 19sec, 45.51pts, 3; Ross Thomson (Dawlish, England) 11min 51sec, 46.55pts, 4; Alex Smith (Rakaia) 12min 3sec, 46.71pts, 5; Jeremy Leygonie (Martel, France) 11min 54sec, 47.59pts, 6.

Intermediate final (8 sheep): Paora Moanaroa (Eketahuna) 10min 37sec, 41.225pts, 1; Reuben Alabaster (Taihape) 11min 6sec, 42.55pts, 2; Merion Evans (Machynlleth, Wales) 11min 56sec, 44.05pts, 3; Chris Dickson (Masterton) 11min 8sec, 45.525pts, 4; Liam Pritchard (Pongaroa) 12min 5sec, 48.875pts, 5; Mitchell Menzies (Ranfurly) 11min 20sec, 48.875pts, 6.

Junior final (4 sheep): Emlyn Jones (Capel-Curig, Wales) 7min 5sec, 31pts, 1; Mark Gwynne (Boughrood, Wales) 7min 14sec, 31.95pts, 2; Atawhai Hadfield (Ruakituri) 8min 9sec, 34.95pts, 3; Dan Owen (Glyn-Cwiriog, Wales) 8min 25sec, 36pts, 4; Daren Bryant (Levin) 9min 9sec, 39.2pts, 5; Topia Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 9min 28sec, 39.4pts, 6.

Woolhandling:

Open final: Sheree Alabaster (Taihape) 56.94pts, 1; Brittany Tibble (Gisborne) 62.87pts, 2; Chelsea Collier (Gore) 63.46pts, 3; Pagan Karauria (Alexandra) 66.12pts, 4; Joel Henare (Gisborne) 74.15pts, 5.

Senior final: Ngaira Puha (Kimbolton) 64.838pts, 1; Crystal Bird (Pahiatua) 81.22pts, 2; Lucky Garrett (Eketahuna) 85.25pts, 3; Tramon Campbell (Gisborne) 85.44pts, 4; Lee George (-) 85.91pts, 5.

Junior final: Cortez Ostler (Dannevirke) 37.526pts, 1; Lucas Broughton (Gisborne) 46.75pts, 2; Laycie Bennett (Taihape) 52.66pts, 3; Te Anna Hughes (Taumarunui) 55.69pts, 4; Sarah Rees (-) 110.65pts, 5.

ENDS

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