Latvian Youth Dance Pair Finishes Eighth at Ten-Dance World Championships

In dancesport, Latvian youth champions Kristians Kalvans and Dana Lebedeva finished eighth in the semifinal of the youth world championships in ten dances, a discipline that combines standard and Latin American dances. They did not reach the final, missing it by only a few points.

The fight for the final

The championships began with 30 couples from as many countries. The twelve best advanced to the third round, the semifinal, including the Latvians. Four couples, from Romania, Poland, Moldova and Germany, looked clear favourites for the final, while four others, Kalvans and Lebedeva among them, competed closely for the remaining two places.

The Latvian pair scored 39 points. That was two points behind the last couple to reach the final and one point behind seventh place.

The source calls it a surprise that a Lithuanian couple made the final. Last year at the European Championships the Lithuanians were 15th, nine places behind the Latvians, and earlier this month, in international ranking competitions at home, they lost to Kalvans and Lebedeva in both programmes.

The final

Romanians Patrik Berbece and Andrea Sturcinski won the title. Silver went to the European champions from Moldova, Artjom Krivenko and Aleksandrina Martinova, and bronze to a Polish couple. The contest for victory resembled the European Championships earlier this month, again between the same two couples, only with the roles reversed.

Earlier results

Last year at the youth European Championships in ten dances, Kalvans and Lebedeva reached the final and placed sixth. This year at the European Championships they were fifth in standard dances and ninth in Latin American dances, so they were counted among the final contenders. At the youth ten-dance European Championships earlier this month, Latvian vice-champions Roberts Meikshans and Viktorija Smolina were also close to the final and finished seventh.