Genoa 2023 World Championships: All you need to know about three days of action

A galaxy of stars including reigning world champions will be ready to dazzle the world as Genoa, the port city and capital of the Italy’s Liguria region, is all set to host the Para Dance Sport World Championships for the first time from Friday to Sunday (24 to 26 November).

This is the first edition of the Worlds in four years since Bonn 2019 in Germany. Ulsan, South Korea, was set to host the event in 2021 but the competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is also the second time the World Championships takes place in Italy, the first was in Rome in 2015. As many as 160 athletes (71 male and 89 female) from 24 nations (14 from Europe, 6 Asia, 3 Americas and 1 Oceania) will be vying for top honours at the RDS Stadium Genova.

While stars from Ukraine, Korea, Kazakhstan, and Philippines would be aiming to top the medals in Genoa, hosts Italy will be represented by 16 athletes, seven male and nine female – including a group of athletes from the Genoa’s Liguria region, such as Simone Capelli, Andrea Barberis, Laura del Sere and Chiara Bruzzese.

“We have waited four long years for the return of the World Championships, which makes this week in Genoa even more special,” said Camila Rodrigues, World Para Dance Sport Manager, as she joined representatives from the Local Organising Committee (LOC), the City of Genoa and the Liguria Region at a press conference on Wednesday (22 November).

“Italy has a strong passion for dance sport and vast experience in hosting international events. The LOC has done a fantastic work together with their partners to deliver this year’s World Championships and we are excited to see the athletes in action again. I am sure the public will be amazed at what they will watch.”

The competition runs from over three days of action and will be streamed live on the World Para Dance Sport website and on PARA SPORT YouTube channel. 

Day One: Ukraine to rule the roost

Five finals are set to take place on day one, starting with the women’s junior 1 & 2 and followed by the men’s and women’s single class 1 and class 2.

The women’s single 1 will see Bonn 2019 world champion Illona Slugovyna from Ukraine against Slovakia’s three-time world champion Helena Kasicka. The Slovakian is on top of the world ranking following an impressive season with triumphs in the Prague Para Dance Sport International Competition and on home soil at the Kosice World Cup.

Another Ukrainian dancer will be in focus in class 2 events. Olena Chynka, the silver medallist from Bonn 2019 and world champion at Malle 2017, and Austria’s veteran Sanja Vukasinovic, the current ranking leader, are expected to finish on the top of the medals.

The opening day will also mark the international debut of USA’s Eve Dahl. At 15, she is the youngest athlete at Genoa 2023 and will compete in women’s junior and class 2 events.

In the men’s events, Ukraine’s Ivan Sivak is one of the biggest stars in the sport and the Prague 2022 European champion in the men’s single 2. A Malle 2017 world champion, Sivak would be looking to change his silver to gold but must be ready to face Poland’s top ranked dancer Pawel Karpinski.

Among other top names, Turkey’s Baris Bayraktar, the reigning European champion, Slovenia’s Amir Alibabic, the current ranking leader, and Kazakhstan’s Ardak Otorbayev and Yermek Kalymbetov, who took three gold medals at last month’s Prague Para Dance Sport International Competition early October, will be ready to put up a strong show.

Day 2: Korea dancers in spotlight

The duo standard class 1 opens the medal programme on Saturday followed by the duo standard class 2. Bonn 2019 world champion and Prague 2022 European champion Illona Slugovyna will be in search of more gold with her partner Andrii Myronchuk. But Slugovyna will find once again fierce competition from compatriot and Bonn 2019 silver medallist Snizhana Kernychna alongside Ihor Bozhenko.

Ukraine’s Chynka will be looking for more podium on day two in the duo standard class 2 together with Oleksandr Onishchenko with whom she picked up a silver medal at the last Worlds. But watch out for South Korean duo Moonjung Choi and Jongchul Choi who might spring a surprise.

The day will also feature medal rounds is combi standard 1 followed by the combi standard 2. Republic of Korea’s Hye-Jeong Jang and Jeongbu Bae will be defending their Bonn 2019 gold against world’s number 1 Tuuli Harju and her standing partner Timo Pyykkonen in the combi standard 1.

South Korea will be also defending a gold medal also in the combi standard 2 with Juhee Hwang and Jaeung Son. Meanwhile, Helena Kasicka will be in search of more medals for Slovakia with her partner Martin Solc, the world ranking leaders. Home crowd will be cheering for local hopeful Laura del Sere and her partner Andrea Barberis.

The duo Latin 1 will have names like Ukraine’s Snizhana Kernychna and Volodymyr Kernichnyi, the Bonn 2019 bronze medallists and Prague 2022 European champions in the line-up, while Turkey’s Nezihe Kocal Unal and Kadir Unal Abdul would be eager to live up to their number 1 rank.

Stars to steal the limelight on Day 2

Among others to watch out for on Saturday are Olena Chynka and Oleksandr Onishchenko, runners up at the Bonn 2019 Worlds; Philippines duo Edelyn de Asis and Julius Jun Obero who dazzled the Japanese audience at this year’s Tokyo International Competition.

Brazil’s David Pimental Pontes was another dancer to shine at the Tokyo International. The world number 1 in the men’s single freestyle 1 would be hoping to write history for Brazil giving his country a first medal in the World Championships. Kazakhstan’s Ardak Otorbayev and Slovenia’s Amir Alibabic and Hong Kong’s Ma Wah Keung and Japan’s Mitsuteru Ada would be other pairs hoping to make a mark.

In men’s single freestyle 2, Kazakh Yermek Kalymbetov will be hoping for a podium finish after his fourth place at Bonn 2019, while Ukraine’s defending champion Ivan Sivak, Poland’s Karpinski and Mexico’s Jesus Yermain Fernandez are other names in the line-up.

In women’s event, all eyes will be on Kasicka as the defending champion and world raking leader. Poland’s Julia Sadkowska, home dancer Chiara Bruzzese would be the other top names to be in focus.

The last event of Saturday’s action is the women’s single freestyle 2 with Austria’s Sanja Vukasinovic, the European champion, Belgium’s Sophie Cox and Philippines' de Asis expected to dominate. But watch out for Ukraine’s reigning world champion Chynka.

Day 3: Kazakh, Philippines' pair in focus

The last day of the World Championships will kick off with the duo freestyle 1. Kazakh duo Ardak Otorbayev and Sevda Aliyeva are the world ranking leaders followed by Korea’s Hye-Jeong Jang and Youngho Lee. Fourth place at Bonn 2019, Ukrainian duo Snizhana Kernychna and Volodymyr Kernichnyi are the Prague 2022 European champions in the event.

Philippines' de Asis and Julius Jun Obero are ranked number 1 in the duo freestyle 2. But to take gold they will have to beat Ukraine’s Olena Chynka and Oleksandr Onishchenko, bronze at Bonn 2019, and the Mexican duo ranked number 2 in the world, Jesus Yermain Fernandez and Haydee Reynosa Guerrero.

Next comes the combi freestyle 1 in which Helena Kasicka will be defending another world title this time with standing partner Martin Solc. Silver and bronze at Bonn 2019 went to Ukraine’s Snizhana Kernycha and Ihor Bozhenko, and Kazakhstan’s Aidana Beglenova and Ardak Otorbayev, respectively. They will be keen to change the medal colour in Genoa.

The afternoon session starts with the combi freestyle 2 and Filippino duo Rhea Marquez and Julius Jun Obero would be hoping to improve their silver medal colour at Genoa. But Kazak combi pair of Kulshum Atalykova and Yermek Kalymbetov, the bronze medallist at Bonn 2019, would be in their way to glory.

Kasicka among the favourites

Defending champion Kasicka and partner Solc will be once again in action in the combi Latin 1. They are expected to face some challenge from Kazakhstan’s world’s no. 2 Ardak Otorbayev and his standing partner Aidana Beglenova, and Finland’s Tuuli Harju and Timo Pyykkonen.

The combi Latin 2 wraps up the action in Genoa with Philippines’ athletes returning to the stage eyeing more medals. Rhea Marquez and Julius Jun Obero, who took bronze four years ago, will be in focus.

Compatriots Edelyn de Asis and her standing partner Shaquille Jay Hanz Basan and will be eager to finish on the podium too, even as Kazakh dancer Kalymbetov and his partner Atalykova, Ukrainian star Sivak and his partner Olena Dankevych are expected to be in the contention.

USA’s Dahl, the youngest athlete at this year’s Worlds, will make her combi debut with standing partner Ernesto Olivas on Sunday.

All results and behind the scenes from the Genoa 2023 World Championships will be available on the World Para Dance Sport social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (X).