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SHEARING CHAMP
FAGAN BACK ON TOP
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By Des Williams Champion shearer David Fagan lost his Golden Shears crown to John Kirkpatrick a month ago but came back with a vengeance at the New Zealand championships at Te Kuiti this weekend, winning all three major titles on the programme. Fagan started his home town winning weekend on Friday when he beat Kirkpatrick in the North Island Shearer of the Year final. On Saturday he again had the better of Kirkpatrick in the New Zealand Open, his time advantage of 15 seconds proving enough to counter Kirkpatrick's slightly better quality. Between those events, Fagan cleaned up the Icon circuit multi-breeds final, beating Stratford's Paul Avery who, like Kirkpatrick, produced the better quality but couldn't foot it in the speed stakes with the 40-year-old Te Kuiti maestro. Wanganui's master woolhandler Joanne Kumeroa has also had a lean season by her standards, but won both the NZ open title and the new Champion of champions event to reassert her top ranking. Among the lower grade competitions, Adam Brausch of Dannevirke won the intermediate title to go with his win at Golden Shears, while David Buick of Pongaroa won the senior title by 0.037 of a point from Northland 18-year-old, Matthew Smith. The popular Inter-Island shearing and woolhandling challenge resulted in a win for the North, giving the team a two-nil series win after earlier success at Gore's Southern Shears in February. John Kirkpatrick gained further compensation for missing the top money by being names Shearing Sports competitor of the Year, a title determined by popular vote among the shearing sports fraternity. Results follow: NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIPS, TE KUITI, 4-6 APRIL 2002Shearing: Heiniger NZ Open: David Fagan, Te Kuiti, 50.935 1; John Kirkpatrick, Napier, 51.280 2; Dean Ball, Te Kuiti, 53.455 3; Alan MacDonald, Piopio, 54.300 4; Paul Avery, Stratford, 54.400 5; James Fagan, Te Kuiti, 54.790 6. Heiniger Icon Circuit: David Fagan, Te Kuiti, 55.970 1; Paul Avery, 57.026 2; Nathan Stratford, Invercargill, 58.518 3; Jerome McCrea, Wanganui, 58.878 4; Dean Ball, Te Kuiti, 59.205 5; Darin Forde, Winton, 59.205 6. WoolPro North Island Shearer of the Year: David Fagan, Te Kuiti, 50.820 1; John Kirkpatrick, Napier, 53.385 2; Dean Ball, Te Kuiti, 53.430 3; Alan MacDonald, Piopio, 53.975 4; Paul Avery, Stratford, 56.290 5; Joe Clarke, Wanganui, 56.415 6. Bayer NZ Senior: David Buick, Pongaroa, 44.513 1; Matthew Smith, Ruawai, 44.540 2; Noel Gardiner, Wanganui, 46.092 3; Pete Chilcott, Te Kuiti, 46.509 4; Steve Capstick, England, 49.175 5; Robert Nikora, Dannevirke, 52.358 6. Pfizer intermediate shearing: Adam Brausch, Dannevirke, 35.635 1; Shane Rawlinson, Stratford, 36,690 2; Matthew Timu, Waipawa, 36.800 3; Charles Sciascia, Feilding, 38.335 4; Ben Phillips, Marokopa, 39.750 5; Shaun Ward, Te Karaka, 43.700 6. Candy Wools junior shearing: Heath Kingston, Dannevirke, 30.455 1; Simon Hales, Dannevirke, 30.935 2; Mark Buick, Masterton, 31.970 3; Andy Mainland, Invercargill, 33.670 4; Caleb Wells, Nelson, 35.675 5; Andrew Hales, Christchurch, 36.445 6. Inter-Island Challenge: North Island (David Fagan, Paul Avery, John Kirkpatrick, Sue Turner, Joanne Kumeroa, Ailsa Fleming) 207.625 beat South Island (Darin Forde, Grant Black, Nathan Stratford, Sharon Lawton, Lisa MacLeod, Leah Brensell) 213.062. Woolhandling: Wool Exporters Council Champion of Champions: Joanne Kumeroa, Wanganui, 342.630 1; Sharon Lawton, Gore, 364.060 2; Tom Fleming, Te Karaka, 386.310 3. Ends. Further
information and photos available from desprado@xtra.co.nz
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