A number of finals at the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in New Zealand were held on Friday (February 10) featuring competitors from around the world.
Held for the first time in Invercargill on the country’s South Island, the championships see people competing in six categories including traditional blade shearing, machine shearing and wool handling.
New Zealanders are the favorites in many of the events, but South African Mayenseke Shweni took the honours in the All Nations Blade Shearing final ahead of New Zealand’s Tony Dobbs.
Shearers work on a points system where speed and the state of the sheep after shearing go towards the final score.
More finals are planned for Saturday night (February 11).
The World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships have been held every two to four years since 1977.
(Reuters)
