Central Hawke's Bay shearer Cam Ferguson has won the Otago Shearing Championship open title held over the weekend in Balclutha.
The Otago event is the first in the unofficial Grand Slam of New Zealand shearing, which culminates with the Golden Shears in Masterton next month.
Ferguson, 26, picked up enough points to beat John Kirkpatrick by 0.15 points.
Invercargill shearer, Nick Pyper won the senior final, Australian Corey Mifsud took the intermediate award and Brett Roberts from Mataura won the junior title.
Reigning world champion Paul Avery didn't compete in Balclutha, instead taking part in an event in Te Puke, where he came second to Dean Ball from Te Kuiti.
A visiting Welsh shearing and woolhandling team competed in Balclutha. The woolhandling team was beaten, but the shearers won, beating an Otago regional selection.
