Tuesday, April 03, 2007 Cebuanos rake in 6 golds By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
DANCESPORT Team Cebu City (DTCC) started the Holy Week on a jubilant note as it took home six gold medals plus a silver and bronze in the Singapore Millennium 2007 last Sunday at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore.
The DTCC young bloods seem to be upstaging their senior compatriots with Jefferson Pimentel and Daine Xylene Balili leading the charge of the 11-pair team.
Pimentel and Balili, who are not new to international glory, won the top honors in the Junior Latin Open and the Junior Latin Close Asia Championship events last Sunday.
Last year, they made a historic finish in the International Children’s Game, winning the country’s first ever gold medal. Just recently, in the national quarterly rankings, the two also raked in two gold medals in Standard and Latin events.
Meanwhile, DTCC directress Eleanor Hayco and Tom Ingan also made their presence felt as they dominated the Latin event of the Senior’s division.
Niño Otero and Arlene Afable took another title after winning the Latin dances of the pre-amateur class, while Dondon Meras and Samantha Ho completed DTCC’s golden haul with a victory in the Latin event of the Novice division.
Taking credit for the two other medals is the tandem of Jimmy Noel and Radha Alfar, who plucked a silver medal after finishing second in the Novice Latin and a bronze in the Pre-am class.
Meanwhile, Cebu dancesport pillars Ricca Alix and Renante Saldua completed a decent finish after making it to the top four of the Standard event of the Seniors division.
The competition drew dance athletes all over the world including Denmark, Lithuania, Sweden, USA, Russia, Finland and Germany among others.
This is the first international stint of the group for this year. Last year, the team went amok in three competitions in the US and harvested 67 gold medals.
This year, the team is setting its focus still at solidifying its place in the international scene, as it hosts an international competition later this year.
