The inaugural leg of the 2019 GrandSlam Series is over and the scene has been set for the upcoming year. By the look of it, we might see some really interesting finals from now on, as there are really strong couples heading towards the top and the competition is really tight.
The GrandSlam Standard had new winners. Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU) scored more than 39 points in three dances, and the other two were only less than 0.2 points under the magical 39 point line. According to the scores, Slow Foxtrot was their best dance with 39.168 points. The couple was all smiles after the competition - and with a good reason: They had just won their first ever GrandSlam with a margin of 3.5 points.
Even though the margin seems big, the runners-up Francesco Galuppo - Debora Pacini (ITA) improved their scores towards the end of the final, scoring over 38.1 in every dance. By the look of scores, their best dance on Saturday was the Viennese Waltz with 38.458 points.
A strong trio of Russian couples is right behind these two. Evgeny Moshenin - Dana Spitsyna ranked third, Alexey Glukhov - Anastasia Glazunova fourth and Evgeny Nikitin - Anastasia Miliutina sixth. Lithuanian couple, Vaidotas Lacitis - Veronica Golodneva completed the top six and ranked fifth.
The GrandSlam Latin, however, had familiar winners. Armen Tsaturyan - Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) continued their long list of number ones, which started in the beginning of 2018. The couple appreciated the warm atmosphere created by the Romanian crowd. With their signature move in Jive they warmed up the whole venue themselves as the crowd exploded to a deafening roar each time they performed it.
The runners-up, Marius-Andrei Balan - Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) were very close. The two couples shared the same scores, 38.958, in Rumba. In Jive, the margin was only 0.041 in favour of Armen and Svetlana, and after all five dances the difference was only 1.122 points. By the look of it, we can already predict that there will be many interesting and tight competitions between these two couples.
And, just like in Standard, there are four (and more!) very strong Latin couples who are just about to stir the deck on a perfect day. On Sunday, Timur Imametdinov - Nina Bezzubova (GER) ranked third and scored over 190 points in total. Andrey Gusev - Vera Bondareva (RUS) ranked fourth, and there was a really tight competition between Charles-Guillaume Schmitt - Elena Salikhova (FRA) and Andrea Silvestri - Martina Varadi (HUN). The French couple secured the fifth place by a margin of 0.165 points.
And, we have to keep in mind that these were only the finals of the two competitions! There were many wonderful moments throughout the whole two days, starting from round one.
The 2019 WDSF GrandSlam Series is now running, and the next stop is in Chinese Taipei in the beginning of June. Before that event there are loads of other international and national events, and Continental Championships.
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