Golden Shears World Shearing Championship
Royal Welsh 2011 Shearing Results - Find the 2011 Royal Welsh Shearing Results here
On Wednesday, the final day of the Golden Shears World Championships, the atmosphere in the shearing pavilion was comparable only to being in the Millennium Stadium for a rugby international. Commentators Huw Condron and Bill Jones agreed that they had never seen so many people in the building. Top New Zealand commentator Koro Mullins also admitted that he had never seen such a big crowd before in his life.
The audience participation was nothing short of deafening at times, drowning out even the sound of the Norwegians’ bells.
Even the weather remained good, and the heavy showers that were forecast stayed away as the sun shone down on the thousands of people packed at the rear of the building
The Golden Shears World Championship’s climactic event saw a brand new world champion being crowned. Cam Ferguson of New Zealand beat fellow countryman David Fagan into second place, and also won the cup for having the best pen points. Welshmen Gareth Daniel and Gareth Evans came third and fourth respectively. Fifth place went to Scotland’s Gavin Mutch and sixth to Kieran McCullogh from Northern Ireland.
The crowd went wild as Welshman Gareth Evans dropped the first lamb in just over 30 seconds and maintained his lead for the first few sheep. David soon took the lead by sheep number four however and stayed in front for the next twelve.
“Who’s going to be the Daddy?!” screamed the commentator as Cam and Gavin raced along, only blows behind him.
Sheep 16 saw Gavin take the lead, “The Flying Scotsman!” boomed Steve Meredith. The atmosphere reached a new level of intensity as Cam then took the lead and went in first for sheep 19 and 20, but it ended with a photo finish as he and Gavin hit their stop buttons simultaneously. David finished just seconds behind, followed by the two Gareth’s and Kieran.
Cam Ferguson received a standing ovation from the crowd as he received his first prize, and thanked the organisers and his team mates.
The team shearing final reflected positively on the current strength of UK shearers, with all four home sides qualifying along with the Falkland Islands and, of course, New Zealand. The New Zealand team lived up to their reputation however and retained the team shearing world title. Wales came second, receiving huge applause, and Scotland third.
An upset in the individual blade shearing championship saw South Africa’s Bangani Joel fail to qualify for the final. Winner of the world title was Elliot Ntsombo of Lesotho.
Bangani was back on form for the teams' event however, with South Africa taking top honours and the Lesotho team coming second.
The woolhandling results gave the home crowd what they so desperately needed – as Bron Tango took the Individual title. The delight of her fans was palpable as she took the trophy, with giant leeks and Welsh flags waving wildly across the crowd.
New Zealand won the teams’ woolhandling championship however, with Wales coming in second place.
Other highlights of the day included David Wyllie of Australia shearing a sheep at lunch time – despite having only one arm (anyone who’s tried it knows how difficult it is with two!) and the Golden Shears World Championships closing ceremony.
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