Dance Blues wipe the floor with Cambridge
An Oxford pair cutting the rug in the ballroom category
The 32nd Dancesport Varsity Match was hosted by Cambridge, who were looking for revenge after losing to both the Oxford A and B Teams at the Nationals. The Dark Blues, reigning Varsity and Nationals champions, were nonetheless confident after a good year, and were eager to retain the Varsity Shield for the sixth year running and in the process making it a decade undefeated for the B Team.
The ballroom competition was contested first, with a marginally stronger Oxford Ballroom side making the most of the opportunity to gain points at the expense of their rivals. Nicholas Faull and Ju Min Wong alongside Sugata Kaviraj and Andrea Zitna competed exceptionally well, tying for the Best Varsity Ballroom Couple trophy. Following closely behind in their footsteps were Ian Watson and Camilla Sen in third place.
Cambridge were more confident in the Latin discipline, arguably their strongest chance of a category victory. However the visitors still pushed through to take the top four positions in the Latin half of the match. Again Faull and Wong starred, winning the Best Varsity Latin Couple trophy, only five points ahead of the Oxford duo. The entire team performed exceptionally, producing incredibly impressive scores.
Oxford accordingly won the Varsity Match by a margin of 596 points, with Oxford couples taking the top five places overall. The Dark Blues have now won the 21 of the 32 Varsities to date, complemented with five years straight as overall IVDA National Champions. Cambridge will no doubt need to step up their training for the next season. In the B Team match Cambridge offered stronger opposition, adding an air of tension during the announcement of the results.
As both teams nervously waited to discover who had won the Shield, the commentator simply stated that “the B Team Shield goes to Oxford.” Once the points had been confirmed as a 240 point victory, Oxford getting 1560 to Cambridge’s 1320, the hall erupted in cheers as the Dark Blues’ B Team made it a decade undefeated. Alex Hobbs and Karen Zieger were particularly outstanding, taking trophies for Best B Team Couple and Best B Team Latin Couple.
These excellent victories were the icing on the cake for Oxford Dancesport, who have dominated the sport for the last several years. This latest victory adds to their impressive feat of becoming fifth consecutive National champions, reigning Inter-Continental Dancesport Champions and the Oxford University Sports Federation’s "Team of the Year".
19th May 2005