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Lightning Ridge will host this year’s Australian Wood Chopping Championship to coincide with the Opal Muster 2002 celebrations. World Wood Chopping Champion David Foster and over 40 fellow axemen will compete in the NSW Axemen Association’s competition on 27 & 28 July 2002 at the Sports Ground.
The 2-day competition has a full program of wood chopping events including Under Hand, Standing Block, Treefelling and Medley Relays. The action will kick off from 10.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Weighing over 25 stone and able to chop a 12 inch-log in 8 seconds, David Foster is the reigning World Champion in Wood Chopping. He has over 178 World Titles and 168 Australian Titles under his belt and is the first person in sporting history to have won 1000 championships. The heavy weight is tipped to maintain his highly contested Australian title at the Competition.
Ian Woodcock, General Manager of the Lightning Ridge District Bowling Club said “We are very fortunate to secure the event for Lightning Ridge. As it is a national event, there is likely to be a lot of media attention. Wood chopping has evolved from the traditional skills of the bushman and it is now a very entertaining and crowd pleasing sport”.
“The Wood Chopping competition is part of the Opal Muster 2002’s program. The event is ideal as it adds variety to the program and will draw a more diverse market to the Opal Muster, which is great for the tourism industry and local economy”, said Mr Woodcock.
The entry fee to the Wood Chopping Competition is $7 per adult, $2 per child or $15 per family.
Opal Muster 2002 - The pre-eminent Opal Trade Show and Gem Expo is on 25-28 July. The program includes a Bushdance and 3-course meal with bush tucker, soup and dessert, NOW FM’s Coops and Blink will broadcast live on Saturday and there is an Opal Nera promotion on Friday night at the Bowling Club.
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