Para dancers return to Lomianki with new targets

A familiar place to the best Para dancers in the world, Lomianki will welcome nearly 60 athletes from 10 countries as the Polish Open celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2023. 

Altogether 41 female and 19 male athletes will be in action in Poland this weekend (3 and 4 June) aiming to dazzle with their dancing moves in single, combi and duo events. A strong competition expected in the singles events, with some top names lining up in the second international World Para Dance Sport event of the year.  

Home Challenge 

The home challenge will be led Joanna Reda, a former world champion in 2010 and European champion at Kosice 2016, who will compete in two women’s single events, the single conventional 2 and the single freestyle 2.  

In the six-member Polish team, Reda will be accompanied by the experienced Pawel Karpinski, also a 2010 world champion besides silver and bronze medallist at the championships. He will be eager to put up a strong performance at home. 

Prague 2022 European champion pair of Katarzyna Nowokunska and Michael Ciok will also be aiming at putting the hosts on top of the podium in Lomianki after their gold medal winnings moves last year.

International line-up

The international line-up at the Polish Open 2023 includes regular visitors such as Israel’s Tomer Margalit, the 2019 Worlds silver medallist, who has had an incredible run in Poland so far.

Margalit, whose two gold medals in women’s single 1 and combi freestyle 1 events helped her country finish on top last season, will be hoping to continue her fairy-tale run this year as well.

Besides a strong medal contender in single freestyle and conventional 1, the 27-year-old Israeli will be among the favourites in combi freestyle 1 and combi Latin 1 events.

Worlds and European Championships medallist Vital Zinger is another top dancer from Israel to watch out for this weekend. She competes in single Freestyle 1 and combi events alongside Sean Ziv.

Meanwhile, Slovenia’s Lara Nedeljkovic will be hoping to improve the colour of her medal in women’s single conventional event this time following her bronze medal last year. 

For Sofie Cox, the Para Dance Polish Open 2023 will serve as a comeback event as the Belgium star returns to action this season after a gap following surgeries.  

The weekend in Lomianki will also mark the international debut for four new dancers from Poland (Ewa Mlot), Slovenia (Tamara Mahoric) and Italy (Eugenio Migliaccio and Enzo Palombo).

What’s next?

After enthralling the audience in Europe, the World Para Dance Sport action will shift to Asia for the Tokyo 2023 Para Dance Sport International Competition in Japan starting 5 August. 

But the sole focus will be on the Genoa 2023 Para Dance Sport World Championships in Italy scheduled to take place from November 24 to 26.

Complete results from the Para Dance Polish Open 2023 will be available here.

You can follow the action on the World Para Dance Sports social media channels.