And the WDSF GrandSlam Finals of 2018 have finally come to a close as the top dancers of the Standard Division left their souls on that dancefloor yesterday in Shanghai. Not only did this year’s event differentiate from last year’s in terms of participants, but we were also hit with some unexpected news from the 4-time WDSF Standard World Champions, Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova. Before we dive further into this revelation, let’s step back to witness how this GrandSlam Final began. 

It All Began With 13

From a set of thirteen couples, ten would have the chance to make it through to the next round, the semi-finals. The quarter-final left three couples behind including this year’s Wild Card couple, Yuan Shaoyang and Qi Chongxuan of China who placed in thirteenth. In twelfth place was a couple representing the country of Poland: Darius Mycka and Madara Freiberga. This was their very first time being a part of the WDSF GrandSlam Final leg. Due to the absence of three top couples, Francesco Galuppo and Debora Pacini of Italy, Vaidotas Lacitis and Veronika Golodneva of Lithuania, and Vasily Kirin and Ekaterina Prozorova of Austria, couples such as Darius and Madara had the chance to experience the thrill of being a part of one of the most anticipated events of the WDSF, a true honor of participation. 

In 11^th place was Tomas Fainsil and Violetta Posmetnaya of Germany. This event turned out to be a bit of a downfall for this German couple in terms of ranking. This will be explained further below.

The Semi-Final

The semi-final brought about interesting results in the placements of couples who became ranked 7^th through 10^th. Below are the results:

In terms of Tomas and Violetta who placed in 11^th, in the WDSF World Ranking List before this event took place, they were ranked in 12^th while Qiu Yuming and Wei Liying of China were behind in 18^th. This is not a major downfall, but a great victory for the Chinese couple as they made the semi-final here in 10^th place, beating the German couple who stayed behind in the quarters.   

Edgars Linis and Eliza Ancane of Latvia also beat their opponent Latvian couple, Vadim and Anastasia even though Vadim and Anastasia are ranked 10^th in the World and Edgars and Eliza 11^th. In events such as these, anticipated placements are always subject to change. Exactly this makes the audience thrill for more.

The Best of the Best

The six top couples advanced into the final. Here are the resulting placements:

The absence of Francesco Galuppo and Debora Pacini of Italy, the World Bronze Medalists, gave way for Evgeny Moshenin and Dana Spitsyna to take the final pedestal placement. Madis and Aleksandra of Estonia also achieved an incredible feat of making this GrandSlam Final, taking 5^th place when last year they were at the bottom of the semi-final in 10^th position.

With four Russian couples in the final six, the champions were Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova, the first WDSF 4-time World Champions. They danced their twentieth, and final GrandSlam. Dmitry and Olga announced their retirement as Amateur competitors with a very grateful speech pronouncing the strength of their couple in going through what it takes to get to the top. Olga’s speech can be seen here on FloDance. 

Until Next Time

Shanghai has now said goodbye to the stars of the World DanceSport Federation for the time being. We will be keeping watch on the Standard division very closely as we now anticipate new leaders to take their position. To Dmitry and Olga, we thank them for many years of fantastic dancing, their humbleness, and their true inspiration for generations to come. These are the dancers that make this art and sport thrive. The best of luck to your future and the future of all WDSF athletes. As they say, on to the next one!