A team of six
competitors will represent New Zealand at the next world shearing championships
at Bjerkreim, Norway, in October next year.
The Meat & Wool New Zealand-sponsored team will include the winners of the 2008 Golden Shears and
New Zealand open championships, to be held in March next year.
Two wool handlers will also be
selected from an elimination contest at Golden Shears, while two blade shearers
will be chosen from the blade
shearing circuit next season. World shearing championships
started in England in 1977 and have alternated between England, New Zealand and
Australia, while South Africa hosted its only world event at Bloemfontein in
2000. Norway will be a
whole new experience for many people, but they have had a very enthusiastic
committee working on preparations for the past two years and I'm sure it will be
a memorable occasion," Mr Fagan said.
New
Zealand will next host the
world championships in 2012, at Masterton's Golden Shears.
Four New Zealanders – Roger Cox (Hawera), Brian Quinn (Alexandra), Alan MacDonald (Te Kuiti) and David Fagan (Te Kuiti) – have won the world championship, with Fagan's five titles a record that is likely to stand unchallenged
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