2011 WDSF Grand Slam Chengdu, China 09/07/2011

Chengdu is a historical city and home to China ‘s living treasure, the Giant Pandas. Eighty per cent of the World Giant Pandas are found in the Wolong Panda Sanctuary. In the suburbs of Chengdu is the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.  

Two hours South of Chengdu City is the Leshan Stone Buddha carved out from a stone hill overlooking the confluence of three treacherous rivers. The sitting Buddha measures 71 meters (233 feet) tall and the shoulder is 28 meters (92 feet) wide. It is in the UNESCO Natural and Cultural Heritage list since 1996. Glancing through the several tourist brochures, the Giant Pandas are the iconic symbol of the Szechuan Basin and Chengdu.

The World Grand Slam Standard and Latin Chengdu is held at the sprawling Shuangliu Sports Centre. The Stadium manager informed me that all-important indoor sporting events in Szechuan are held here. 

Since 2009 when the then IDSF Grand Slam Finals in Shanghai where the new judging system was first introduced, there were worried faces, fearing that the New Judging System may not live up to its expectations.  This time Japan DanceSport Federation, Senior Executive Director Atsushi Yamada San was visibly more relaxed and I even had the pleasure of being introduced to Hitomi Yamada, the spouse of Atsushi at the Giant Panda Breeding Sanctuary.

Prior to the start of the Grand Slam Finals, the Sports Director Marco Sietas ran through the New Judging system with the adjudicators. He reminded that the athlete’s reputation and popularity are not to be considered at all. They are judged by their performance on the day.  That is in line with the spirit of fair play and the values espoused in Olympism. By looking at the results you can immediately tell that previous champions of the Grand Slam season this year does not guarantee you a win in the next Grand Slam competition.

The hugely popular couple that won the hearts of the crowd in the Standard event is Sergey and Olga Konovaltsev from Russia. When it came to the Quickstep, the crowd literally went wild when the couple takes flight, earning them the reputation “Air Konovaltsev”.

In the Latin American segment Aniello Langella and Khrystyna Moshenska from Italy came out champions with 234.61 points followed by Zoran Plohl and Tatsiana Lahvinovich from Croatia with 229.11. Martino Zanibelato and Michele Abiltrup from Denmark 225.33 points.

The couple that caught the hearts of the audience is the lanky Vladimir Karpov and Maria Tzaptashvilli from Russia. Valdimir vowed the audience with the moonwalk in his Jive choreography. The other couple worthy of mention is Yury Simachev and Anatasia Klokotova from Russia. This couple competed at the preliminary rounds and work their way to the finals at 6^th placing. Yury, true to his bubbly spirit did 5 flips on the dance floor before he went into the Jive routine at the farewell dance. 

The traditional victory dance by the champion was done away with and the announcer invited the finalist to the floor to give their farewell dance for the evening in both the Standard and Latin American. Indeed this is the right move because all of them are indeed champions.

The General Secretary of the WDSF Mr. Shawn Tay, who was the English compere, appears satisfied that all went well. Mr. Carlos Freitag made an announcement that Shanghai, Beijing and now Chengdu will be the major DanceSport centers in China.