The Zug dance couple Davide Corrodi/Maja Kucharczyk achieved their career-best result at the World Championships Standard. They reached the quarter-finals in Wuxi, a city of over a million inhabitants in eastern China, and finished in 20th place among 62 couples. It is probably the most valuable World Cup result of a Swiss dancing couple this millennium.
"The quarter-final, i.e. a top 24 finish, was our big goal - now we have even exceeded our expectations with 20th place," Maja Kucharczyk is happy about the outstanding result. Her memories of previous competitions in China and the fantastic audience in the Expo Centrum had inspired her. She and her partner Davide Corrodi danced their way through the starting round with ease, joy and energy. In Round 2, they managed a seamless continuation with a handsome 40 marks, while also keeping their concentration at the highest level, she said. "In the English Waltz we were on the same floor as four later finalists, which felt very great," recalled Corrodi. In the end, the result was 20th place with bib number 20 - perhaps it was "destined" that way. Only a few points were missing - just 0.134 points - and they would have been in 18th place.
The progress of the Zug couple, who have been dancing together since July 2017, can be seen in the World Championships results of recent years; in 2019, i.e. directly before the Corona pandemic, they ranked 58th in Vilnius/LIT, in 2021 in Brno/TCH they finished 48th, and a year ago in Rimini/IT they were 30th - an impressive development.
The fact that they now enjoy a high level of acceptance at the WDSF and in the concert of the greats was also revealed in the opening ceremony. Corrodi/Kucharczyzk were allowed to read the oath of the competitors on behalf of the 62 dance couples (picture). A symbolic sign that they have arrived at the top of the world.
Big season goal remains World Cup Ten Dance
Corrodi/Kucharzcyk's big goal for the season is the World Ten Dance Championships, which will take place in Portugal on 11 November. The top couple from the Tanzsportclub Zug has taken part in all WDSF tournaments where ten-dancing was on offer in recent months. Thanks to their versatility and strong results, they are currently at the top of the ten-dance world rankings and now want to reach the World Cup final of the best six couples. "In Wuxi we got further indications that our roadmap is right," Corrodi states, referring to seven other ten-dance couples who were also in the quarter-finals. "We left four of them behind us, including last year's finalist couple from the Czech Republic."
First, however, Corrodi/Kucharczyk will now treat themselves to two weeks of holiday. Maja is going to Spain, Davide is looking forward to a safari in Namibia and Botswana. After that, it's one after the other. On 26 August, they will defend the Swiss championship title in ten-dancing in Kirchberg/BE, and on 9 September, they want to win back the standard championship title in Uetikon/ZH, where their club is the promoter and organiser.
Text: Martin Zinser
