Monday, July 07, 2008 Cebu’s graceful finish By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
CEBUANO dance athletes wiped out the opponents by a mile not only after sweeping the titles in the premier divisions of the Latin and Standard dances of the Dancesport Council of the Philippines Inc (DSCPI) Midyear Ranking and Competition last Saturday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel Grand Ballroom but also for snatching 23 of the 36 medals at stake in the quarterly competition—which was a day laced with lots of surprises.
Making the day sweeter was the Cebuanos serving the upset axe on the perennial winners and national team members—an outcome greeted by collective gasps from the unsuspecting onlookers from Manila who came at a distant second to Cebu.
The husband and wife tandem of Joel and Annabelle Madera won the Grade A standard dance for the first time in years, relegating perennial winners and Southeast Asian Games medalists Emmanuel Reyes and Maria Rosete to fourth place.
In the past, Joel and Annabelle attempted countless of times to win a title in the quarterly ranking, but always fell short with Reyes and Rosete as the biggest hurdle.
Familiarity
But not last Saturday though.
Familiarity with the dance floor plus a lot of egging from the home crowd played a factor for the Maderas to win the national title for the first time.
“I could not believe it at first. I almost could not walk towards the podium,” said the flustered and stunned Annabelle, who had to be taken by the arm by his husband towards their spot at the podium.
It was a big slap for the Manila crowd, who had pinned their hopes on Reyes and Rosete to lift the Manila team, which was struggling in the competition.
