Saith ar hugain o wledydd ym Mhencampwriaeth Cneifio'r Byd yn y Sioe Frenhinol
Sheep are a rare sight in Japan but the country will be represented among the 27 nations competing in the Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships at the Royal Welsh Show in July. Shearing teams from across Europe and far off countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, South Africa and the USA will line up alongside others including the home countries and between them they will shear around 5,000 sheep in pursuit of the prestigious
awards.
Thousands of international visitors are expected on the showground at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, to watch the world’s top shearers in action when the event, dubbed ‘Shear Magic’, returns to Wales for the first time since 1994.
Sheep shearing is a major attraction at big agricultural shows and is popular with enthusiastic and knowledgeable audiences who enjoy watching the skills, speed and stamina of master shearers as they clip a sheep’s fleece in a trial against the stopwatch in which seconds count.
To accommodate the supporters and the fans of the shearing teams, an additional grandstand is being positioned opposite the showground’s Meirion Shearing Centre and a large viewing screen will also be erected. The RWAS is spending £150,000 on staging the championships which will begin with the opening ceremony on the first day of the show, Monday July 19. The various competitions for blade and machine shearing and woolhandling for the World Championships will take place on the second and third days of the show culminating with the team and individual Golden Shears World Championships on Wednesday, July 21. Further events including the Junior Championship, the Wales YFC shearing competition and the hotly-contested Wales –v- New Zealand Test, will take place on Thursday, the closing day of the show.
Only one team from each country, comprising two blade and two machine shearers and two woolhandlers, is eligible to compete in the World Championships and they will do so as teams and as individual competitors. Prize money of £13,000, including £1200 for the Golden Shears machine shearing champion, will be on offer together with other trophies.
Entries for the Shearing Championships close on June 4.
top printiwch