West Australian shearer Damien Boyle out-gunned the best local fine wool shearers to win the New Zealand merino championship open title for the fourth year running.
He won the final in Alexandra with a huge margin of more than 15 points over the veteran New Zealand fine wool shearer, Dion Morrell, an Alexandra contractor who won the title three times from 1996 to 2002.
While he missed out on the main prize, Morrell regained a place in the New Zealand shearing team for the test series against Australia in Warrnambool, Victoria, later this month and at the Golden Shears in Masterton in March.
In the woolhandling section, Amy Ruki of Invercargill, scored her first win in the open class.
