By Kirill Pirogov
The international sports dancing tournament, the Belarus Open Championship, was held at Minsk’s Palace of Sports for the sixth time. The beautiful and prestigious event gathers dance couples from the CIS and beyond. This year, the event was held as part of the European Cup and within two world rating tournaments of the highest standing: the IDSF International Open Latin and Standard. Belarusian Artem Kozyro and Anastasia Veslova were placed third in the European Cup for their ten Latin American and European dances. Meanwhile, Yuri Simachev and Anastasia Klokotova (of Russia) earned gold, and silver went to Germany.
In the IDSF International Open Latin event, the most prestigious, Russia claimed every prize, with gold captured by Dmitry Pugachev and Yelena Zyuzyukina. In the IDSF International Open Standard, Victor Burchuladze and Valeria Agikyan of Russia came first.
In addition to the competitive part of the event, there was a traditional demonstrative performance by the top couples. Brilliant Italian pair Domenico Soale and Gioia Cerasoli — multi-time world champions with their European programme — presented a spectacular show.
