MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ Steve Vergara and Charles Lagaras recently finished a strong second place in the Grade A Latin event of the 2009 International Dance Sports Federation Asian Championship at the Isla Ballroom of the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.
The Vergara-Lagaras duo finished closely behind eventual gold medalists Yumiya Kubota and Rara Kubota of Japan and ahead of Akhmet Kalmatayev and Khristina Ivolgina of Kazakhstan.
SM, San Miguel Corporation, Department of Tourism, Philippine Reclamation Authority, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, International Container Terminal Services, Uni-Orient Travel, BA Securities, Caylabne Bay, PCSO, The Manila Times, Pagcor, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, NU107, Savannah Moon, Water Zone, Studio 116 and Europa backed the event.
Dance Sport Council of the Philippines president Becky Garcia congratulated the winners in simple awarding rites also attended by ISDF president Carlos Freitag and wife Evelyn, who flew in from Spain, PRA general manager and overall event chair Andrea Domingo, Tourism Undersecretary Cynthia Carrion and Rep. Rene Velarde.
Masayuki Ishihara and Ayami Kubo of Japan topped the Standard discipline of the same event.
Plokhikh Yevgeny and Klylichnikova Alyona of Kazakhstan and Yumiya Kubota and Rara Kubota of Japan, for their part, dazzled the judges and the audience by reigning supreme in the Standard and Latin dance events of the third Manila IDSF Open Standard and Latin Competition Grade A Open.