This upcoming weekend will be sure to pack a punch! As the year winds down and all preparation begins for celebrating the holidays, the dancers of the World DanceSport Federation continue their competitive endeavors to conclude their final tournaments of the year. 

This Saturday, December 15^th, will host various events of the WDSF in the city of Riga, Latvia. One of these events will be the distinguished World Open in the Standard division. On the starting list, we have a total of 69 couples registered thus far from 21 countries. The largest number of participants comes from the Russian Federation, a total of 17 couples. The three Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia) bring in numbers as well. From Estonia, we have 9 couples, from Lithuania, 6, and from the hosting country of Latvia, 7. 

Who Will Take Part?

Taking a look at the starting list, we can see that Evgeny Nikitin and Anastasia Miliutina of Russia are the highest ranking couple in attendance at the moment. They are ranked 8^th in the WDSF World Ranking List and recently made the final of the GrandSlam Finals this past weekend in Shanghai. They came in 6^th. 

Last year, Evgeny and Anastasia also attended this same Riga World Open and ended up taking the Bronze Medals. Now, their chance has come to take home the Gold.

The second highest ranking couple recorded in the starting list is one from the hosting country itself, Edgars Linis and Eliza Ancane of Latvia. They are ranked 13^th in the World Ranking List and recently placed 10^th in the WDSF Standard World Championship hosted last month in Vienna, Austria. In Shanghai, they were also in the semi-final in 8^th place for the GrandSlam Finals. 

Edgars and Eliza did not attend this Riga World Open last year, but rather in 2016 where they finished in 4^th place. Now, their attendance could very well place them at the top of this event.

From Poland, Dariusz Mycka and Madara Freiberga will be taking the floor as well, ranked 15^th in the World Ranking List. They should be the couple to complete the pedestal this upcoming weekend, a major chance coming their way. Last year, they attended this same World Open and came out placing in fourth, one step away from the pedestal. Now, they could very well take the Bronze.

The Great Thing About WDSF World Opens

World Open events of the WDSF are truly a fantastic chance for dancers to come out and shine. Aside from the Star couples of the World DanceSport Federation, World Open events provide opportunities for couples not yet at the very top of the Ranking List, to go out and become even more noticed, to go out and fight for a higher position in placement. World Opens, therefore, is much different from say, GrandSlams, where Star couples will most likely always be the “Stars” of the show. In such cases including this World Open here in Riga, we have couples fighting for a chance to make that final: a reality here when it may not be a reality in, for example, a GrandSlam environment.

FloDance will be streaming live this last WDSF World Open of the year! This will be one of the last chances for couples to gain points for world ranking positions in the Standard Division. The best of luck to all of the couples! Make sure to stay tuned for the live-streaming of this event and all upcoming results!