In addition to hosting an upcoming Standard World Open to take place in Riga, Latvia this upcoming Saturday, December 15^th, the World DanceSport Federation will also be presenting this year’s Youth Latin World Championship. Both of the events are part of the Baltic Grand Prix competition.

This Youth World Championship is the second to last WDSF World Championship that will be hosted this year. Actually, the very last will also be hosted as a part of the Baltic Grand Prix; the WDSF Standard Show Dance World Championship of the Professional Division, will take place this Sunday, the 16^th. 

Battle of the Youth

The youth division of DanceSport is one of the most highly competitive divisions of this sport. Dancers of this age category are centered around the ages of 16 to 18 years old and have already begun to prosper as successful competitive athletes. However, this is the beginning of their transition into the highest level of competition – the adult division. For this reason, the hunger is clear in the eyes of Youth competitors: it’s either take or be taken.

This Saturday, we are expected to see a total of 81 couples take the floor to fight for the World title. Two couples from each representing country have the chance to take part. 81 couples are quite a lot, to say the least. Last year, this same World Championship was hosted in Seoul, South Korea in November and acquired only a total of 59 couples. This year’s entries have increased by 22!

The Champion Slot Is Open

Last year’s champions came from the Russian Federation: Semen Khrzhanovskiy and Elizaveta Lykhina. This year, they transitioned into competing in the Under 21 and Adult divisions, taking the title of 2018 WDSF Under 21 Latin World Champions. Their transition gives way for another couple to take the Youth Latin Title this year. The turning of age that requires Youth competitors to continue their careers into the Under 21 and Adult division, makes way for new champions almost yearly. For this reason, it is quite difficult to predict who will take home the Gold this weekend.

A Quick Preview into the Competitors

Taking a look at last year’s results, Wang Tian and He Jieruo of China placed fourth in the final. They are the only couple who made the final last year who are participating once again in this Youth Championship! This considered, we have couples arriving anew to this event this year who have just as good a chance to pack a surprise. Such couples include the highest ranking Youth couple of the WDSF World Ranking List: Vladislav Untu and Polina Baryshnikova representing the country of Moldova. 

This past weekend also hosted the WDSF Youth 10 Dance World Championship in Guadalajara, Spain. A few couples who attended are now arriving in Riga to take on another World Championship. They are all warmed up and ready to set out on the floor once again. One of these couples is Kristers Smits and Elizabeth Shlimovich of the United States. They placed in the final of the 10 Dance Championship, taking 6^th place. Full of adrenaline and fantastic emotions from such a great result, we will be looking forward to seeing how they do this upcoming Saturday. 

As the year winds down, the dancers of the World DanceSport Federation give their all to conclude their results for the remainder of this year. The last push is here, and the hunger of these Youth dancers will have them fighting tooth and nail for the top. The best of luck to all the competitors! Stay tuned here on FloDance as we capture live one of the last WDSF World Championships of the year.