Dancesport opens PH medal bid in Asiad
GUANGZHOU—It takes two to tango.
And acting dancesport coaches Gloria Alcala and Emma del Carmen Nieto hope that a perfect combination of flawless execution and the medal format will provide Team Philippines with its first gold medal in the 16th Asian Games that kick off here Friday.
Dancesport will be among several sports that will take place Saturday, when competitions in this quadrennial meet finally get going, with the demanding discipline penciled as a medal possibility for a delegation that doesn’t really know where it will count on for victories.
“It would be perfect for us to start off with a gold medal,” Nieto, whose wards are coming off back-to-back triumphs in Southeast Asian Games competition, said Thursday afternoon.
“But the Asian Games is a bigger field and there are a lot better couples here,” she added.
The country’s dancers include Charlea Lagaras, Ronnie Vergara, Dearlie Gerodias, John Errol Melencio, Brian Lee Calo, Jocelyn Macopia, Joel Madera, Anabelle Madera, Brian Ocana, Karla Ocana, Emmanuel Reyes, Maria Rosete, Miljane Camacho and Bernie Tamurong.
There are 10 gold medals at stake in the weekend competitions and if the PH dancers can execute flawlessly for two-minute stretches, they should be in contention for a gold medal, especially in the hip-heavy Latin competitions.
“We’re good in Standard also but generally, Asian countries are really strong in Latin,” said Alcala of the two divisions the country will compete in.
The medal format will also play a crucial role in the country’s bid for gold in dancesport. Unlike in other international meets, competitions in the Asiad and SEA Games allow couples to pick just two events per division and focus on them.
The two dancesport association officials, who are stand-in coaches in the absence of Spanish mentor Victor Buenavida, who wasn’t accredited for the Asiad, point to Japan, host China and Kazakhstan as the top couples who will crowd the country in the medal race.
“China, especially, because its training is very rigid and it starts training its athletes as early as 6,” said Alcala, who is also an adjudicator.
