South East sawyer Robert Dowling (pictured) has cut down the competition in the Sydney Royal Easter Show to win the world single-handed sawing title and the Jack and Jill show championship with Jinaya Niass.

It is his fifth consecutive year winning the Jack and Jill championship, while he reclaimed the single-handed sawing world title for the first time since 2019.

Dowling won the Jack and Jill championship in 2018 and 2019 with sawing partner Raewyn Windley and has taken it out for the last three years with Niass.

The pair has won the championship at three other major shows this year including the Royal Adelaide Show, Melbourne Royal Show and the Royal Brisbane Show as well as other events in New Zealand.

Dowling said he and Niass sawed through the 15-inch log this year with a time of around nine seconds.

“We sawed together in the Jack and Jill and gave that a good crack and it was not our best cut that we have put in … but it was good enough,” he said.

“We are trained to get to the point where even on a bad day even if we do not have the best run we are still good enough to win, that is the level we try to be at.

“It was good enough to get us across the line and get the win, so we were pretty happy about that.

“Jinaya and I have put on some pretty good performances like last year we were undefeated around all of Australia.”

Dowling recorded 17.01 seconds in his heat and 17.30 seconds in the final to claim the single-handed sawing world title despite a knot in the wood.

“It was actually slightly slower in the final, but the wood was a little bit firmer in the final and I actually had to cut through a knot,” he said.

“I was pretty happy to still get the win after going through a knot because usually that is the difference between first and about fifth.

“I was cutting pretty well and my gear was cutting well and it all came together and was still able to put a great cut in and get a convincing win.

“It is a bit of a challenge trying to stay on top or trying to get back on top, but it is very rewarding when you do.”

Fellow New Zealander David McDonald, who was the single-handed sawing world champion from 2015- 2017, placed runner up after a few years away from international competition.

“He is a great competitor and knowing he was there I knew I had to really be on my game if I was going to come away with the win,” Dowling said.

“There was a lot of fantastic cutters from throughout Australia and around the world.

“Brad Delosa, he is the top Australian single sawyer, he has won that world title the last two years running so trying to beat those top guys was really good motivation.

“I have been using that all year to build myself up and to try and get back on top.”

Dowling said his strategy was being good enough that he could allow room for error.

“I was trying to build myself up so that even if a few things went wrong I could have a bit up my sleeve to try and sneak the win,” he said.

“The extra effort I had put in had paid off because I find if you just try to be the best by a little bit then all it means is you just have to be off by a little bit.”

The Sydney Royal Easter Show can see a million people walk through the gates in 12 days with spectators filling the custom-built 5000-seater stadium to watch the premier event.

Dowling said there were competitors this year from Canada, the United States and Europe, especially from Spain.

“Sydney Show is the premier event in the world really, it is known as the ‘Wimbledon of Woodchopping’, it is where everyone goes to really test themselves,” he said.

“A lot of people there commented that it was the strongest line up of sawyers they had seen at the show.

“It was a very strong field from all over the world which was good because you want to go to these events and beat the best.

“Sydney is really considered the world championships of woodchopping because they put up the hardest wood that you can cut.

“If you win Sydney it is considered that you are the all-around world champion in that particular event, so it is definitely the one that everyone aims for.”

Dowling won the triple crown in 2019, taking out all three championships including the double-handed sawing title alongside fellow New Zealander Jason Winyard and legendary Tasmanian axeman David Foster.

The sawman said he was hoping to reclaim the triple crown this year with his partner Brad Turner in the lead up to the event before he fell ill a month before the competition.

“I did not have a great lead-up and my cardio went out the window and I only managed to get some training in the week beforehand,” he said.

“Luckily I had a good season, so I was able to build on that but trying to win the double saw as well was just a bridge too far and I did not quite get there in that one.

“I ended up fourth but we had a good crack at it and so hopefully we know what we do differently again.

“A big part of it was really just that illness in the lead-up, it just meant that because the double saw is the day after the single saw and after winning the single saw, the next day I just blew out.

“I’m hoping next year with a better run into the show that I can just be in a bit better form and give that another good crack.”