Record Entries For 7th Crystal Dancesport Championships 2009

The 7th Crystal Dancesport Championships 2009 which was held on August 30 2009 at the Shangrila Hotel in Kuala Lumpur saw the participation of a record 620 competitors from 14 countries. This competition was also used as a trial to select dancers to represent Malaysia in the dancesport events at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam in October 2009. For the first time in this championship, a Malaysian Amateur Ten-Dance event was introduced and the organizer hopes to have this as a permanent item in future competitions. Due to the overwhelming response to, and success of this championship, the organizer, John Lim of World Dance Academy plans to have a bigger 3-day championship cum dance festival next year whereby top coaches from around the world will be invited to come to Malaysia to conduct workshops and lectures.

The most exciting event in this competition was undoubtedly the finals of the Standard Professional Open which was won by Aleksandr Zhiratkov and Irina Novozhilova (aka Popovic) of Russia. Aleksandr and Irina swept aside the competition and mesmerized the audience with their dazzling moves, power and fantastic floorcraft. The couple who are presently dancing for Hong Kong, were semi-finalists in the Ballroom Professional and the runners up in the Ballroom Professional Rising Star events at the Blackpool Dance Festival 2009. Here are the official results of the major events of the 7th Crystal Dancesport Championships 2009. To view the results and images of the events, kindly log on to www.gallery.danceoption.biz.

Standard - Professional Open

1 Aleksandr Zhiratkov & Irina Novozhilova (Hong Kong)
2 Stefeno Soldati & Annalisa Longo (Italy)
3 Shui Qing & Ma Yan Yan (China)


Latin - Professional Open

1 Andy Huang & Mandy Yang (Taiwan)
2 Yoshio Hirooka & Tomoko Osanai (Japan)
3 Wei Bin & Liu Xiao Ting (China)


Standard - Amateur Open

1 Wang Chun Yen & Chiang Hsin (Taiwan)
2 Romeo Alfarius Queri & Triska Tan (Singapore)
3 Chalongrat Thienwattanachot & Arissara Sastaravaha (Thailand)

Latin - Amateur Open

1 Dorin Frecautnu & Roselina Doneva (Russia)
2 Loke Tze How & Su Li (Malaysia)
3 Wang Chun Yen & Chiang Hsin (Taiwan)

Malaysian Amateur Ten-Dance

1 Johnston Lim & Nicole Tan (Selangor)
2 Kenneth Tan & Coco Tan (Kuala Lumpur)
3 Louis Haw & Katryn Haw (Sabah)