Seven Golden titles enough for woolhander Henare

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There was a strong Māori showing at the Golden Shears in Masterton this weekend and the end of an era.

Doug Laing from Shearing Sports New Zealand says he was particularly impressed with wool handler Pagan Karauria, who won the finals of the World Championships New Zealand Selection series and will represent this country in France.

The Alexandria wahine, who featured in last year’s documentary She Shears, has built a formidable track record despite battling the lingering effects of life-threatening injuries from a vehicle crash in Central Otago a decade ago.

Joel Henare was eliminated in the early rounds of the selection series but bounced back later in the day to take his seventh Golden Shears open woolhandling title in a row.

He also picked up the Transtasman woolhandling tohu alongside Sheree Alabaster.

Doug Laing says Henare marked the occasion by announcing his retirement from competition.

"He decided the kids need a bit more of his time and I guess at 27 he's had 11 years at the top doing this sort of thing, anything up to 20 competitions a summer, so it's not just like going down to your local park and belting a ball, you are driving 400 or 500 kilometres to these competitions, he has been doing that since he was 15," Mr Laing says.

He was also impressed with the way Masterton-based shearer Paerata Abraham won the Wool National Circuit final after being 11th of 12 qualifiers for the semifinals.

Rowland Smith of Maraekakaho added to his impressive series of wins by again taking the Golden Shears open title, shearing 20 second-shear sheep in 17 minutes 24 seconds.

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