And Estonia secures yet another win under its belt: Konstantin Gorodilov and Dominika Bergmannova acquire one more competitive title here at the 2019 WDSF Latin European Cup!

It was an exhilarating evening at the 9th Annual Salaspils Open International DanceSport Competition on Saturday, May 11. Many were looking forward to watching this European Cup due to the fresh lineup of competitors: each year’s European Cup differs in attendees depending on the placement of couples at each WDSF member country’s national championships. Many of the couples in the starting list either did not take part in last year’s European Cup, nor have ever participated in this event yet throughout their competitive careers.

The Battle Between Russia & Italy

The Cup began with the first round with a total of 24 couples in the running for the title. It concluded with the best of the best: the final six.

Our anticipated winners took their position as the 2019 Latin European Cup Champions of the World DanceSport Federation. The elegance and grace that defines Gorodilov and Bergmannova blossoms from them competing in two styles (both Standard and Latin - 10 Dance) and keeping fantastic results in both (they became the 2018 WDSF 10 Dance Champions in November). Such a partnership paves the way for them establishing themselves as an idol couple. They not only motivate younger generations of dancers to fight for their dreams, but also prove the possibility of being strong in both the Standard and Latin divisions.

However, the main battle of the evening took place for the runner-up position, unexpectedly secured by Maxim Elfimov and Evgenia Churikova of Russia. It was anticipated that Vito Coppola and Oona Oinas of Italy would take the silver, and yet the final results proved otherwise—a strong fight between two couples consisting of powerhouse athletes. 

Ranked 22nd in the WDSF World Ranking List, Coppola and Oinas took 18th in the quarterfinal at the 2018 WDSF Latin World Championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Elfimov and Churikova are ranked 36th in the World Ranking and have never attended the WDSF World Latin Championship, due to the difficulty of inauguration from a country of such highly skilled dancers as the Russian Federation. The evening resulted in Russia taking the second highest placement on the pedestal, winning by only 0.05 points! 

Taking a closer look at the scores, we see that the Italian couple won the samba, paso doble, and the jive: three out of five dances. Both couples tied with a 34.600 out of 40.000 in the rumba, and the Russia couple conquered the cha-cha by .55 of a point! This lead in the cha-cha resulted in Elfimov and Churikova gaining the lead, even though Italy won three of the five dances and tied in the rumba. 

An Array of Results

To wrap it up, let’s take another quick recap of our three remaining finalists. From Lithuania, Jokubas Venckus and Migle Klupsaite finished in fourth, a fantastic result for the duo that also placed 12th at the recent WDSF Latin World Open in Pieve di Cento and 24th at the 2018 Latin World Championship. They rank 29th in the WDSF Ranking List. 

From Germany, Zsolt Sandor Cseke and Malika Dzumaev took fifth. This was the couple that we anticipated would be battling for the second place position against Italy, ranked 17th in the WDSF World Ranking List ahead of Coppola and Oinas. What a night of results it was indeed!

Last but not least, from Latvia, Maksym Kravchenko and Paula Kukute secured the last position as the sixth dancing couple of the 2019 WDSF Latin European Cup final.

Expect the Unexpected 

DanceSport involves many unpredictable moments, especially when it comes to finding out final placements. For this reason, when sport and art come together, subjective as well as objective perspectives arrive at a crossroads and many opinions form from various points of view. At the same time, what thrill it is to see how couples rise to the moment and attain the next level of success in their competitive careers: for us as spectators, coaches, family, and friends, we have the honor of being a part of it all. 

This European Cup was truly a fantastic event to witness here in Latvia. A huge congratulations to the victors on yet another victory! We hope to see them again soon at the upcoming European Championship in two weeks. Stay tuned!