A Cobram shearer has returned from the Golden Shears World Shearing and Wool Handling Competition in France, to take out the Victorian open title at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show.
Jason Wingfield won the open final at Bendigo, and will now represent Victoria at the national titles in Dubbo, NSW, in November.
He was placed 15th out of 62 starters at the Golden Shears, held in at Le Dorat in western France.
North Central Victorian Sports Shears Association president Adrian Tuohey said Mr Wingfield's feat at Bendigo was even more impressive given his gruelling schedule before the tournament.
"He'd been shearing all week, after coming back from France," Mr Tuohey said.
"He arrived down here on Saturday to compete, won on Saturday and Sunday as well."
Mr Wingfield had been shearing in Lightning Ridge, before heading home then on to Bendigo.
After Bendigo he went up to Tamworth, NSW.
The best Mr Wingfield has ever done in the world competition is coming ninth in Norway in 2008.
Mr Tuohey said Merino sheep were used instead of crossbreds, which made shearing a bit tougher for the competitors.
He said the competition required a large enough draft of sheep which were of similar age and size but they found out 12 months ago the regular supplier was not available.
"There's not a lot of people have crossbred ewes, which are 1.5-years-old, this time of the year," he said.
Because of the denser wool and wrinkle, Merinos wouldn't be able to be shorn as quickly.
"But he took 23 minutes, six seconds to shear the 12 sheep; it's pretty quick, you would have been looking at 15-16 minutes to shear the equivalent in crossbreds," he said.
Mr Tuohey said Victoria would again host the national championships in Bendigo in 2020.
Victoria was also considering bidding for the world title for 2026.
"That'll take a lot of money, a lot of volunteers and a lot of sponsorship, but we'll give it a try," he said.
If Australia was to be granted the title, Mr Tuohey said it was likely Merino sheep would be used.
"Australia has Merino sheep and the other 23 countries don't, so that gives us an advantage over the rest of the world," he said.
"Our biggest flock is Merinos and we are not obligated to use them, but we'd like to have them in the competition."
Along with Mr Wingfield, Josh Bone and Sam Mackrill will also represent Victoria at the national championship.
Ken French took out 2019 Sports Shears Victoria state championship blade shearing title at Bendigo, with Mal Griffiths in second place and Garry Griffin third.
In the open shearing section, Jason Wingfield took first place, followed by Josh Bone and Sam Mackrill.
The open wool handling title was taken out by Mark Purcell, with Claire Price and Lisa Wardlaw, taking out the minor placings.