Three fantastic days in Rimini (ITA)
Rimini (ITA) hosted a spectacular event of WDSF DanceSport during the first weekend of December. The beautiful seaside resort on the coast of the Adriatic Sea welcomed the couples to compete for the four WDSF Championship events in three days, and number of WDSF Open and WDSF World Open New Series events in front of packed spectator stands.
The weekend kicked off with WDSF PD European Championship Standard on December 2nd. The 2022 Super Grand Prix Stuttgart winners, The World Games 2022 bronze medalists and the runners-up of the 2022 WDSF PD World Championship Standard in October, Vaidotas Lacitis – Veronika Golodneva (LTU) performed their best and reached gold and the 2022 WDSF PD European Championship title. Edgars Linis – Eliza Line (LAT) added silver medals to their collection of achievements, and Pasquale Farina – Sofie Koborg (DEN) completed the podium with their third place.
The 2022 WDSF World Championship Senior II Standard remained exciting until the very end of the final. The top two couples received equal sum points (8.0), and the World Champions were decided by counting the number of first place marks, according to Rule 10 of the Skating System. The Italian crowd bursted into deafening cheers after the announcement of the new World Champions who were Manuele Marinozzi - Sara Romagnoli (ITA). Last year’s bronze medalists added their names to the Table of Honour in Rimini by winning three dances of the final. The silver medals were awarded to Gatis Simsons - Julija Simsone (LAT), who won two dances of the final. Lionel Lepreux - Charlotte Milleville (FRA) won the bronze.
Saturday, December 3rd, was highlighted by the 2022 WDSF World Championship Youth Latin. The dream came true for Luigi La Rocca - Marika Maria Scerra (ITA), who continued with their winning streak after the 2022 WDSF European Championship Youth Latin in October, and won also the 2022 World Championship by winning all five dances of the final. Kostner Walter Bogdan - Dumitru Andreea Daiana (ROU) were awarded silver medals, and Nikita Zemlianoy - Ameliya Seferyan (ARM) stepped on the third step of the podium and won the bronze.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdd8j3ykLZY
The major highlight of the weekend, and one of the most expected and appreciated WDSF events of the year, the 2022 WDSF World Championship Standard concluded the Rimini event on late Sunday evening. As expected, and following the tight Grand Slam event in Stuttgart in August, where the couples were close in scores, it was the match between the two rivals, the defending World Champions Evaldas Sodeika – Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU) and the challengers and 2021 World Championship runners-up, Francesco Galuppo – Debora Pacini (ITA).
The two couples received nearly equal points in scores throughout the final, but it was the Viennese Waltz and Slow Foxtrot which were the deciders and dividers in scores, in favour of the Italians. In the end, the margin in scores between the two superstar couples was only 0.118 points. After a number of silver and bronze medals in World Championships during their long career, it was the day for Francesco Galuppo and Debora Pacini to win their first World title, in front of their home crowd, families and friends, leaving them speechless and not able to think about the following day. Sodeika-Zukauskaite (LTU) made the final once again exciting and thrilling, and by doing so, they also won many hearts of the Italian spectators, not to mention the loud Lithuanian supporters! Their effort was awarded with silver medals. The bronze medals travelled to Germany with the happy couple Tomas Fainsil – Violetta Fainsil (GER), who were awarded their first World Championship medals.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZvG1vmNxc
Stay tuned for more videos and images of the fantastic Rimini event!
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