John Kirkpatrick has taken out the open shearing final at the Royal Easter Show in Auckland over the weekend.
Mr Kirkpatrick, from Napier, missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, but on Sunday in the five-man final he shore 20 ewes in 16 minutes and 43 seconds for 62.95 points.
Doug Laing from Shearing Sports New Zealand said it was a big weekend for shearing, with two close competitions between Kirkpatrick and Rowland Smith.
The final competition for the season is the New Zealand Shearing Championships in Te Kuiti this weekend, with more than 200 shearers and wool handlers expected to attend.
