6 Jul 2010

Morale boosting win for World champ woolhandler

8:55 am on 6 July 2010

The Taihape schoolteacher Sheree Alabaster has scored a morale-boosting win a fortnight ahead of her World woolhandling title defence by winning the open title at the Lochearnhead Shears in Scotland.

The win at followed her third place in the Royal Highland Show final in her season's UK debut a week earlier.

Alabaster won the World title in Norway in October 2008 and is on track for a repeat at the 14th Golden Shears World Championships at the Royal Welsh Show starting on July the 20th.

Lochearnhead provided mixed pickings for men's shearers David Fagan and Cam Ferguson, who failed to make their open class final, bowing out to the Scottish pair of Gavin Mutch and Hamish Mitchell.

However Fagan and Ferguson turned the tables in a teams event, being joined by Southland shearer Darin Forde to win the Lochearnhead International Relay.