Wednesday, July 13, 2011

WDSF Grand Slam Chengdu China 3rd July 2011

2011 WDSF Grand Slam Chengdu, China 09/07/2011

3rd July 2011. 
Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province; it is located on the South Western part of China. It has a population of approximately 10.4 million inhabitants. The China Daily voted Chengdu as the 4th most livable City in China. The Climate is sub tropical with temperatures averaging around 5.6 ° C (42 °F) in January and July about 25° C (77° F).   Chengdu is a historical city and home to China ‘s living treasure, the Giant Pandas. Eighty per cent of the World Giant Pandas are found in the Wolong Panda Sanctuary. In the suburbs of Chengdu is the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
Two hours South of Chengdu City is the Leshan Stone Buddha carved out from a stone hill overlooking the confluence of three treacherous rivers. The sitting Buddha measures 71 meters (233 feet) tall and the shoulder is 28 meters (92 feet) wide. It is in the UNESCO Natural and Cultural Heritage list since 1996. Glancing through the several tourist brochures, the Giant Pandas are the iconic symbol of the Szechuan Basin and Chengdu.
The World Grand Slam Standard and Latin Chengdu is held at the sprawling Shuangliu Sports Centre. The Stadium manager informed me that all-important indoor sporting events in Szechuan are held here.
Since 2009 when the then IDSF Grand Slam Finals in Shanghai where the new judging system was first introduced, there were worried faces, fearing that the New Judging System may not live up to its expectations.  This time Japan DanceSport Federation, Senior Executive Director Atsushi Yamada San was visibly more relaxed and I even had the pleasure of being introduced to Hitomi Yamada, the spouse of Atsushi at the Giant Panda Breeding Sanctuary.
Prior to the start of the Grand Slam Finals, the Sports Director Marco Sietas ran through the New Judging system with the adjudicators. He reminded that the athlete’s reputation and popularity are not to be considered at all. They are judged by their performance on the day.  That is in line with the spirit of fair play and the values espoused in Olympism. By looking at the results you can immediately tell that previous champions of the Grand Slam season this year does not guarantee you a win in the next Grand Slam competition.
The hugely popular couple that won the hearts of the crowd in the Standard event is Sergey and Olga Konovaltsev from Russia. When it came to the Quickstep, the crowd literally went wild when the couple takes flight, earning them the reputation “Air Konovaltsev”.
Emanuel Valeri and Tania Kehlet took first place winning all the events with 237.50 points, followed by Simone Segatori and Annette Sudol with 232.78 points and in 3rd placing Sergye and Olga Konovaltsev with 229.06 points.  In the Latin American segment Aniello Langella and Khrystyna Moshenska from Italy came out champions with 234.61 points followed by Zoran Plohl and Tatsiana Lahvinovich from Croatia with 229.11. Martino Zanibelato and Michele Abiltrup from Denmark 225.33 points.
The couple that caught the hearts of the audience is the lanky Vladimir Karpov and Maria Tzaptashvilli from Russia. Valdimir vowed the audience with the moonwalk in his Jive choreography. The other couple worthy of mention is Yury Simachev and Anatasia Klokotova from Russia. This couple competed at the preliminary rounds and work their way to the finals at 6th placing. Yury, true to his bubbly spirit did 5 flips on the dance floor before he went into the Jive routine at the farewell dance.
The traditional victory dance by the champion was done away with and the announcer invited the finalist to the floor to give their farewell dance for the evening in both the Standard and Latin American. Indeed this is the right move because all of them are indeed champions.
The General Secretary of the WDSF Mr. Shawn Tay, who was the English compere, appears satisfied that all went well. Mr. Carlos Freitag made an announcement that Shanghai, Beijing and now Chengdu will be the major DanceSport centers in China.

For more pics go to :http://www.flickr.com/photos/slave_princess/collections/72157627034826087/
 

Chengdu Grand Slam  Standard


1.        Emanuel Valeri  - Tania Kehlet                               DEN
2.        Simone Segatori –Annette Sudol                             GER
3.        Sergey Konovaltsev – Olga Konovaltsev                             RUS
4.        Zharkov Dimitri  - Olga Kulikova                             RUS
5.        Moshenin Evgeny – Genny Favero                          ITA
6.        Alexy Glukhov –Anastasia Glazunova                      RUS

Chengdu Grand Slam Latin


1.        Aniello Langella – Khrystyna Moshenska               ITA
2.        Zoran Plohl – Tasiana Lahvinovich                         CRO
3.        Martino Zanibelato – Michele Abiltrup                       DEN
4.        V;adimir Karpov – Maria Tzaptashvilli  RUS
5.        Andre Kiselev – Anastasia Selivanova                    RUS
6.        Yury Simachev Anastasia Klokotova               RUS


Report and photos by John Fam
Member WDSF Communication Commission, Asia and Oceania

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hello John, I came across your blog while researching information for an interview regarding Dancesport.

I appreciate your efforts in keeping this updated as best you can and keeping the dance community informed.

Please continue the good work.

Warm regards, Bronya