The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Philippine Dancesport delivered a first for the country in the recent World Dancesport Federation – Sanctioned Asian Championship by making it to the final round in the standard competition held in Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.
Locally top-ranked Filipino husband and wife couple Sean and Ana Aranar made history by finishing 5th overall in the competition that attracted 16 countries led by China which took the first two places out of the 28-couple field.
“We are happy with this achievement as we prepared long and hard for this, the competition was tough as top Asian countries were present,” said Sean who also finished 13th out of 58 in the WDSF Open.
Dubbed as the Vietnam Dance Festival, the event was a 3 in 1 competition that also featured the Southeast Asian Championship where again the Aranar couple shared 3 golds in the individual events of tango, slow foxtrot, and quickstep.
The duo of Jefferson Pimentel and Mary Desiree Seraga added another gold in the jive dance, in total, the team won 4 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze medals in the adult division under the guidance of national coaches Emmanuel Reyes and Rannie Vergara.
Pimentel and Seraga also finished in the top 10 of the WDSF Open, Latin category with a 10th place finish out of 58 couples.
Youth entries from Zamboanga City and Davao made their presence felt with a total medal haul of 20 gold, 7 silver, and 3 bronze medals.
The tandems of Francheska Darvin and Bhenz Owen Semilla from Davao and Eidzeen Deen Ibanez and Angie Ituralde, together with Bret Marcial and Althea Aisel Conte led the charge with 3 gold medals per pair while James Justin Angeles and Brianna Marcial combined for 4 golds.
The Philippine delegation was supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) represented by Executive Assistant with Philippine Dancesport Federation (PDSF) directors Benny Lao and Gwen Ong accompanied the team.
“We hope to host the Asian and Southeast Asian Championships in Manila next year, it will be a good follow through for our athletes’ performance here in Vietnam,” said Lao.