Te Kuiti veteran Dean Ball won his second open-class shearing title in Bay of Plenty in three weeks when he beat World champion and Taranaki farmer Paul Avery in the Te Puke A and P show final on Saturday.

Ball, 42, won the Tauranga show title on January 23, and has been a consistent finalist since the Shearing Sports New Zealand competition season resumed last month.

Although beaten off the board by more than 45 seconds as Avery whipped through 15 sheep in 12min 29.6sec, Ball's quality was superior and he ultimately snatched the win by just 0.125pts.

With most of the country's other top open-class shearers at the Otago championships in Balclutha, Ball and Avery finished well clear of the other two finalists, first year open-class shearer Mark Grainger, of te Kuiti, and Taihape's Riki Chase.

There was particular interest in the veterans grade as older shearers dust-off their mocassins and sharpen their combs and cutters for the 50th Golden Shears veterans event in Masterton in three weeks' time. Saturday's old-timers event was won by former Golden Shears perennial competitor John Hand who shore three sheep in just under 4min 20sec, and scored a three-points win over runner-up and 1967 Golden Shears intermediate champion Hugh McCarroll, who shore his three sheep in 5min 38sec.

Results of the Te Puke A and P Show Shears on Saturday, February 13, 2010:

Open final (15 sheep): Dean Ball (Te Kuiti) 13min 15.1sec, 51.488pts, 1; Paul Avery (Toko) 12min 29.6sec, 51.613pts, 2; Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 15min 42.7sec, 64.535pts, 3; Rikihana Chase (Taihape) 14min 9.1sec, 63.055pts, dq.

Open plate (8 sheep): Digger Balme (Te Kuiti) 7min 47.6sec, 37.255pts, 1; Neil Fagan (Te Kuiti) 9min 11.3sec, 41.815pts, 2; John Hand (Mercer) 9min 37.2sec, 47.235pts, 3; Ben Phillips (Opotiki) 8min 7.6sec, 48.63pts, 4.

Senior final (8 sheep): Aaron Haynes (Feilding) 9min 41sec, 40.925pts, 1; David Hodge (Te Puke) 9min 49.1sec, 44.205pts, 2; Wayne Watchorn (-) 11min 52.3sec, 56.74pts, 3; Steve Emery (-) 12min 4.1sec, 57.955pts, 4. Intermediate final (5 sheep): Rozzi Hughes (Te Kuiti) 9min 41.4sec, 41.27pts, 1; Robert Mudgway (-) 10min 26sec, 41.3pts, 2; Thomas Hepi (Te Kuiti) 10min 7.8sec, 41.39pts, 3; Jim McDonald (Tauranga) 9min 15.1sec, 44.755pts, 4.

Junior final (2 sheep): Ed Morrow (-) 6min 33.5sec, 38.625pts, 1; Sam Brooks (-) 8min 38.8sec, 68.94pts, 2; James Carter (-) 7min 42.8sec, 75.14pts, 3.

Veterans (3 sheep): John Hand (Mercer) 4min 19.3sec, 24.298pts, 1; Hugh McCarroll (Tauranga) 5min 38sec, 27.567pts, 2; Rob Deverall (-) 5min 4.7sec, 30.568pts, 3; Jim McDonald (Tauranga) 5min 24.6sec, 35.23pts, 4.