Two-time world champions Julius Obero and Rhea Marquez will return to the scene of their past triumphs in the World Para Dance Sport Championships and will be spearheading a big Philippine contingent capable of winning the other divisions in the meet set in Ulsan, South Korea, on Nov. 26 to Nov. 28.
Team Philippines recently brought home 19 medals—seven golds, four silvers and eight bronzes—from the 2021 Polish Open World Qualifying Round in Lomianki, Poland, with all the Filipino podium finishers advancing to the world championships.
Obero and Marquez pulled off gold medal performances in the 2015 (Rome, Italy) and 2017 (Malle, Belgium) editions, and gained fame after performing in the opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia and making the semifinals of the Pilipinas Got Talent television show in the same year.
In the coming world championships, Obero and Marquez will join Edelyn de Asis, who captured four gold medals in Poland with victories in the solo women class 2, junior class 1 and 2, solo women class 2 freestyle and the duo freestyle class 2 with Obero.
De Asis likewise got a silver along with Shaquille Hanz Basan in the combi latin class 2 won by Obero and Marquez in the qualifier, which drew 95 para dancesport athletes from 15 countries.
The Philippines swept the medals in the combi Latin class 2 and freestyle combi class 2 with Obero and Marquez going away with the gold. Jhona Pena and Filemon Baguio II claimed the silver in the combi class 2.
Joey Maglasang and Pena pocketed the gold in the duo standard class 2 while Christian Apolonario and Anne Charlaine Santos won bronze medals in the duo Latin class 2 and duo freestyle class 2.
Dancesport has become a consistent gold mine for Team Philippines. In the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Filipino dancers won 10 golds.