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Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22464, 20 October 1947, Page 4

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SHEARING CHAMPION SHOW COMPETITIONS IMPROVING STANDARD The Te Puke shearer, I. V. Bowen, won the New Zealand championship for the second occasion before a packed rostrum at the P.B. Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s show on Saturday afternoon, retaining the title he gained last year when the first such competition was held. . Minor placings were taken by two Gisborne district competitors, T. P. Smiler and R. Kahuroa. Besides the generous prize-money the winner holds for a further period the H. W. Barker Cup, which may be won outright in three successive wins or five at intervals. Speaking wth a Herald representative the judge, Mr. S. T. Snushall, Gisborne, who has made the awards at the show shearing competitions over the last four years, expressed pleasure concerning the improvement evident in the standard of the work and said that all contestants merited commendation on the exhibition. A particularly notable improvement had been shown by R. Kahuroa, one of the place-winners in the championship. Mr. Snushall considered the competitions were serving a highly-useful purpose in providing an incentive to shearers to reach and maintain the best possible standard in their work. While speed is important it is not the only factor in the competitions. They are judged on the time taken combined with cleanliness of work and factors such as the absence of second cuts- Points are awarded for the factors other than time and the total is divided into the time expressed in seconds, the lowest quotient thus obtaining the final award.

Detailed results follow: New Zealand Shearing Championship (eight entries) .—I. V. Bowen (Te Puke), 10.87pts„ 1; T. P. Smiler (Gisborne), 11.46pt5„ 2; Raymond Kahuroa (Gisborne), 12.13pt5„ 3.