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IDSF 2008 World Latin Championship

Melbourne, December 2008

The 2008 World Latin Championships were held right here in Australia, giving dance enthusiasts all around the Nation an opportunity to watch the top couples in the world pretty much in their back yard.

A total of  64 couples represented 40 countries, each country allowed a maximum of 2 representatives.

This has been the biggest country participation in an IDSF World Latin Championship ever.

Opening ceremony

The 2 couples flying the flag for Australia were Michael Mizner & Annastasia Belykh and Mirco Sciolan & Nuria Santalucia placing 8th and 9th respectively. The New Zealand representatives Arkady Barkenov & Rosa Filipello (Rosa is originally from Perth) made the quarter final.

The minor rounds were held during the day, with the quarter, semi and final held in the evening session. The atmosphere was electrifying as the couples in front of a full house pulled out all stops in an effort to claim the most prestigious glory of them all – World Champion.

There was no shortage of talent and all competitors went to great length to ensure their physical condition and appearance as well as the dressing and grooming left nothing to be desired – what a feast this show was!

Stefano Di Filippo and Anna Melnikova from Italy made their intentions clear from the first round and really turned up the heat in the final.

The two Russian couples Alexei Silde & Anna Firstova and Andrey Zaitsev & Anna Kuzminskaja as well as the Croation couple Zoran Plohl & Tatsiana Lahvinovich made it difficult for the judges to separate them. 

In the end they had to settle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively behind the Italians who were not only the crowd favourites, but clear winners, being placed first in every dance by every judge!

They finished the night with a Jive honour dance that brought the house down – now that’s dancing!

Alexei Silde & Anna Firstova

Also in the final were Slovenian couple Jurij Batagelj & Jagoda Strukelj (5) and the Danish couple Martino Zanibellato & Michelle Abidtrup (6).

A total of 5 nations were represented in the final.

There are some great photos of the event in the photo gallery, you can check them out here.

Andrey Zaitsev & Anna Kuzminskaja

The 2008 IDSF World Latin Champions

Stefano Di Filippo & Anna Melnikova

There was another milestone at the event that was somewhat overshadowed by the World Championships. If I am not mistaken, we had the very first IDSF Senior event on the day, the Senior I Standard, featuring couples from Australia, New Zealand and China. The winners were Mark & Gail Priebatsch from Australia.

For full results check out www.dancesportinfo.net or www.spaeker.de

Chris Gruber