Latvian dance pairs reach semifinals at European Cup and junior world championship

Latvian sport dancers achieved several successes in international competitions last weekend, reaching semifinals in two separate tournaments.

At the European Cup in Latin dances, held in the Portuguese city of Vouzela, 20 pairs from as many countries competed. Latvian vice-champions Leonards Petkevičs and Paļina Harčanka confidently advanced through the first round and later reached the semifinal among the top 12 pairs. There, they finished ahead of pairs from Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark, placing ninth overall — right behind Lithuanian vice-champions Augustinas Trinkus and Beatričė Rupšlaukytė. The European Cup title went to Italian pair Erik Testa and Federica Brecco, who had placed seventh at the European Championship in June, just missing the final. Second and third places went to pairs from Romania and Germany respectively.

Success for juniors too

At the junior (ages 14-15) world championship in 10 dances in Bulgaria, which required competitors to dance five standard and five Latin dances, 25 pairs took part. Latvian champions Markuss Kalniņš and Džesika Morderere reached the third round, the semifinal, and finished eighth. This was their second world championship this year — in June, they had placed 29th in Latin dances.

The championship was won by Bulgarian pair Kristian Donchev and Martina Kondaklieva, while the other medal positions went to pairs from Romania and Moldova. Estonian representatives Johan Martens Rahula and Viktoria Makarova also danced in the final.

It was previously reported that last year's U21 world champions in standard dances, Ričards Krīviņš and Aleksandra Šamova, triumphed at the European Championship in standard dances U21 held in Bulgaria, while another Latvian pair, Roberts Meikšāns and Viktorija Smoļina, reached the semifinal there.