CEBU, Philippines - Cebuana Charlea Lagaras and her longtime dance partner Ronnie Steve Vergara had a grand time on the dance floor to emerge as the biggest winners of the 2009 Cebu IDSF World DanceSport Open Latin & Standard and the 4th DanceSport sa Sugbu the other night at the Pacific grand ballroom of Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
Lagaras and Vergara flaunted their solid moves and highly technical skills with grace and savvy, paving the way for them to snatch the premiere adult A-closed Asia and the IDSF open titles.
Resplendent in their black and gold costume, Lagaras and Vergara shone very brightly to outsmart another top-caliber duo of Cebuana Dearlie Gerodias and John Errole Melencio in the closed-Asia battle as Norwille Damasin and Joana Niña Marciano wound up third.
Barely able to catch their breath after an overflowing emotion from winning over Gerodias and Melencio, Lagaras and Vergara had to go back to the stage for another victorious stand.
Even if there was a slight glitch in the early part of their final performance when Lagaras' hair got entangled with her constume, it did not hinder their bid for glory against a strong field of opposition. Lagaras and Vergara edged out early favorites Petrov Genadi and Ilieva Vanina of Bulgaria, while Gerodias and Melencio settled for third place honors.
In the modern standard, Hong Kong’s Faye Hung and Pietro Del Bello claimed the gold over crowd-darling, Stela Kukonova and German Tepavicharov. China ’s Yuan Cheng Jun and Su Na won the bronze medal.
While the standard IDSF open was totally dominated by foreign entries, the closed Asia category was swept by the Pinoy bets with Jaime Sarmiento and Maria Cristina Nguyen clinching the top honors followed by siblings Karla and Brian Ocaña and the real-life couple Ana and Joel Madera.
In the other latin action, Jed Villaruel and Maria Ellen Delos Reyes ruled three classes including the adult D class over Sexbomb dancer Cherryl “Che-che” Tolentino and Gisbert Igaya and Cebuana Prince Lorence Inocando and Lark Jabonero on third. Villaruel and De los Reyes also lorded it over in pro-am 1 and the teacher-student categories.
Jessel Yaun and Victoria Mae Huyatid ended with two golds via the pro-am 2 and 3 classes.
Another Cebuana Mae Lozada and Anselm Estillore remained unbeatable in the B class, while Reid Beradas won the adult E crown together with Victoria Lleno. Elvira Yulo and Kristian Sese dominated the senior A, while Maria Belen Carisma and Gifford Gavierres topped senior C.
In the special events, Mark Joseph Fernandez and Ryla Orbiso won the SE 1 female and SE 1 male as Rodolfo Tuliao Jr. and Marietta Jamilla ruled the SE 2 female class. Masato Miyachi and Sheena Richen Daminar topped the SE 2 male.
In the younger divisions, Nigelandes Legaspi and Rochelle Canoy bagged the junior A and C titles, while Hong Kong’s Hing Wai Chan and Lai Kai Tin went home with the youth A plum. Joshua Oropa and Dannah Joyce Piol won the juvenile class, while and Nelson Jabonero and Sigrid Sofia Urdaneta came out the best tandem in youth C.
In the modern standard, Hong Kong’s Yuan Chen Jun and Lua Suk Lee outsmarted Singapore’s Eric Labita and Engai Lim in the student-teacher 5 finale. Labita and Lim, however, bounced back to grab the teacher-student 4 tiare.
Norville Damasin and Victoria Lee collected two golds via the teacher-student 1 and 3 classes, in the same way with Singapore’s Andrev Garbunov and Elizabeth Sam in the SE 2 female and pro-am 3. Jack Poloyapoy and Anna Lao collected three golds through the pro-am 1 and 2 and adult E.
China ’s Duan Bao Hua and Kwong Mei Foon topped the SE 1 female, while Masato Miyachi and Elsie Candelario seized the SE 2 male title.
DanceSport-Team Cebu City (DTCC) mainstays Christopher Albert Corro and Hannah Jane Deluvio stole part of the show by dominating the SE 1 male action. They also got a silver from the SE 1 female.
Mark Jayson Gayon and Ana Leonila Nualla posted a 1-2 finish through the youth C and A, respectively, while another DTCC bet Inoue Roi Rendon and Christy Kim Velez captured the youth A title.
The rest of the winners were Joemari Rios and Kimberly Mahinay (junior A and C), Joshua Oropa and Dannah Grace Piol (juvenile), Gener Galang and Elena Lee (senior C), Orlando Arevalo and Patricia Chui (senior A), Giovanni Tumarong and Rosima Amor (adult C), and Singapore ’s Bibiana Choo and Maxim Antipin (adult D). – THE FREEMAN