Bydd Sioe Frenhinol Cymru yn cynnal Pencampwriaethau Gwellau Aur Cneifio a Thrin Gwlân y Byd
Hundreds of overseas visitors will converge at the Royal Welsh showground at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, next July for the 2010 Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships which are returning to Wales for the first time since 1994.
An information pack containing details of the programme has been circulated to 34 countries which are expected to send teams of competitors to the event.
Sheep shearing has become a major attraction at many agricultural shows. It is popular with enthusiastic and knowledgeable audiences who enjoy watching the skills, speed and stamina of master shearers at work.
The logistics involved in hosting the championships at the Royal Welsh Show at a cost of around £140,000 include the provision of approximately 5000 sheep – all of them drawn from strong-woolled Welsh breeds – and catering for the needs of hundreds of competitors and team officials. Most will be located at nearby Llanwrtyd Wells, where some 220 beds have already been reserved, but the arrival in Mid Wales of team supporters from around the world means that every available hotel, B&B and camping site in the area will probably be required to accommodate them.
The opening ceremony for the world championships will take place at the showground’s Meirion Shearing Centre on the first day of the show, Monday July 19, and the various championship competitions on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 20 and 21, will culminate in the prestigious team and individual championship finals.
Only one team from each country is eligible to compete, each comprising four shearers – two machine and two blade shearers – and two woolhandlers. They will compete as teams and also as individuals. Prize money of £13,000, including £1200 for the Golden Shears Individual Machine Shearing Champion, will be on offer together with various trophies.
The objectives of the Woolhandling Championships include fostering greater understanding and appreciation of global wool preparation standards and requirements and demonstrating the skills involved in wool preparation.
The first Golden Shears competition was staged in New Zealand in 1961 and the first Golden Shears World Championships took place in 1977. Since then New Zealand has produced some of the word’s top shearers including David Fagan, five times World Champion, Alan McDonald who won the Individual World Championship when the event was staged at the Royal Welsh in 1994, and Paul Avery who won the Championship last year when the event was held in Norway, where the Wales team came third in the machine shearing team final.
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