Home country hopes soar at World shears in Masterton
Defending World bladeshearing champion Bonile Rabela, of South Africa, in the first round of his 2026 title defence at the golden shers in msterton.
Photo / Golden Shears.
New Zealand’s hopes of moving back into champion World shearing and woolhandling ranks soared today (Thursday) as home-country representatives topped the points in the opening rounds of both the blade shearing and woolhandling during the 64th Golden Shears in Masterton.
South Canterbury shearer Allan Oldfield headed a field of 32 as he started his bid to regain the bladeshearing title he won in France in 2019, and rookie international Marika Braddick, of Eketahuna and Motueka-based Joel Henare, from Gisborne, were one-and-two in a field of 36 chasing the woolhandling title he won in 2012 and 2017.
But it was different in the machine shearing, where Southern Hawke’s Bay farmer and 2012 title-winning Scottish shearer Gavin Mutch led a pack of 51 hopefuls, by more than a point from surprise second-placing Adam Dickson, of Falkland Islands, Scotland teammate Hamish Mitchell, and New Zealanders Toa Henderson and Rowland placed fourth and fifth respectively.
In the blades shearing Oldfield opened up a near five-points lead on South African Teboho Nyatsa, followed in order by New Zealand veteran Tony Dobbs, English shearer Tony Mudge, defending World blades shearing champion Bonile Rabela, from South African, and South Australian sheep studmaster Johnathon Dalla, in his first Golden Shears in Masterton despite being Australia’s longest-serving blades shearing representative.
In the woolhandling, Braddick and Henare were followed in order by Racheal Hutchison, of Australia, New Zealand-based Cook Islands representatives Keryn Herbert and Tina Elers, and 2014 World champion Hilary Bond-Harding, of England,
In each event, points from two rounds decide the qualifiers for the teams final on Friday night, and the last stages of the individual championship on Saturday.
The machine shearers sheared two perendales and three crossbred long wool sheep in the first round, and on Friday shear five second-shear sheep each. The blades shearers shore three crossbred sheep in the first round on Thursday and then shear three perendale ewes in the second round on Friday, and the woolhandlers had two perendale fleeces and two crossbred long wool fleeces in the first round, and have four second-shear in the second.
New Zealand, the dominant nation in World shearing and woolhandling championships history, did not win any of the events at the 2023 championships in Scotland.