With various WDSF World Championships having just concluded in Miami, Florida in the United States of America, we now travel to Timisoara, Romania to catch live the Under 21 Standard World Championship of the World DanceSport Federation hosted this coming Saturday, October 20, 2018, live on FloDance. 

All Under 21 WDSF World Championships are open – meaning that any couple eligible by age standards is allowed to attend and compete for the World Title. Beside this World Championship event, the Timisoara International Dance Festival will also be hosting WDSF International Open Championships in the Latin and Standard Divisions, as well as WDSF Youth Open events in Latin and Standard. The competition will definitely be on at the Constantin Jude Sport Hall as these hungry athletes strive tooth and nail to take the winning slots. 

Currently, over 60 couples are registered to take part in this World Championship. It seems that Russia has the highest number of couples representing, 12 in total, with Italy following suit with 7. What is so unique about the Under 21 age category is that anyone under the age of 21 is able to participate. Quite easy to understand right? But the interesting fact lies in that when dancers are 18 about to turn 19, they then head into the Adult division, transitioning out of the youth category. However, the Under 21 division allows for those dancers aged 19 and 20 to slowly make their way into the Adult arena of competition. It gives dancers a chance to set the stage for competing with the best of the best as it allows exposure worldwide in competitive dancing. If a couple wins an Under 21 World Championship, they become more recognized for their earnings when they compete in the Adult division. Under 21 categories include many youth dancers aged 16 to 18, who begin having a taste of a higher level of competition. For these various reasons, usually Under 21 Champions change each year. For example, when this same World Championship was hosted last year in 2017 in Salaspils, Latvia, Denis Gudovsky and Megija Dana Morite took home the gold for the hosting country itself, Latvia. However, in the beginning of this year, Denis and Megija split as a dancing couple. Megija went on to compete in the Adult division with a new partner and Denis is actively searching for a new teammate Now, the top pedestal placement is open for the taking.

Looking at the WDSF World Ranking List, it seems that the highest ranking youth couple registered thus far for this event based on Youth Standard Rankings is Ilya Gasanov and Liudmila Raevskaya of Russia. They are ranked 7^th in the world and have quite the chance to truly shine this year, and progress from last year’s result of placing 37th. Also currently registered are last year’s World Vice Champions, Paul Rednic and Roxana Lucaciu of Romania. They are 29^th in the World Ranking List of the World DanceSport Federation when looking at the Adult Standard division. 

All in all, this event will be an unpredictable one indeed. A mix of adult and youth athletes come together to truly battle it out for what is the best of the best, the title of World Champions. Stay tuned on FloDance as we capture the heat of competition soon to take place in Romania. Who will conquer this time?