THE 1999 National and Open Shearing Championships kicked off in Bloemfontein on Friday. This is likely to be a trial run for the 2000 World Shearing Championships which are to be hosted in Bloemfontein. The event is expected to be attended by participants from more than 20 countries. In 1996 and 1998 South Africa teams participated in the biennial world championships in New Zealand and Ireland respectively. The South African performance was outstanding and on both occasions a shearer from South Africa became hand-shearing world champion.