Улаанбаатар
The First National Shearing and Woolhandling Championships Hosted with Over 100 Participants
Society
Ulaanbaatar, June 23, 2025 /MONTSAME/. Under the auspices of President of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, the “Altan Khaich 2025” (Golden Shears 2025), the first-ever National Shearing and Woolhandling Championships of Mongolia took place on June 20-21, 2025, in Zuunmod, Tuv aimag.
The competition, organized by the Ministry of Food,
Agriculture, and Light Industry (MOFALI) and the Governor’s Office of Tuv Aimag
within the framework of the “Tsagaan Alt” (“White Gold”) National Movement, aims
to increase the value of sheep wool, improve its efficient use, and support the
production of wool final goods. Furthermore, it targets to facilitate herders’
workload by introducing and promoting time-efficient technologies and equipment
and rewarding youth who have acquired the skills to use them.
The “Altan Khaich 2025” competition was organized within
three categories: traditional hand shearing, beginner-level electric shearing,
and professional electric shearing. The judges consisted of one Australian and seven
New Zealand professionals, as well as herders, scholars, and researchers.
Originated in 1961 in New Zealand, the “Golden Shears”
competition has become a tradition hosted in locally tailored ways by fifteen
countries worldwide. The competition, organized for the first time in Mongolia,
also featured a wool and cashmere product exhibition, a fashion show, competitions of knuckle-bone shooting and wool
plying, and a song contest among sheep shearers.
Over a hundred sheep shearers aged between 19 and 70 from
18 aimags participated in the competition. Champion Herder of Mongolia from
Darvi soum, Gobi-Altai aimag Batmagnai Shagdarsuren won first place in the hand
shearing category, scoring 981.8. As for the amateur electric shearing
category, Herder from Tsenkher soum, Arkhangai aimag Azbayar Chuluunbat secured
first place, shearing five sheep in 8 minutes and 14 seconds. The winner in the
professional electric shearing category is Herder from Khotont soum, Arkhangai aimag
Baasandorj Erdenetsogt, who sheared 10 sheep in 10 minutes and 52 seconds.
Herder Baasandorj Erdenetsogt set a national record of
shearing 455 sheep in 8 hours. In recognition of his achievement, President of
Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa awarded him a certificate of acknowledgment,
confirming his participation in the 2026 Shearing and Woolhandling Championships.
