HK's dancing teens win Paris world competition
Two Hong Kong teenagers have returned from an international dancing competition in Paris as world champions.
Tsang Ho-yang, 16, and Chan Hoi-ki, 18, won the under-19 all girls Latin event at the World Dance Council's open championships - in which Hong Kong was ranked second overall on its first entry in the event. The pair beat 2,000 other couples to win their title.
They had not expected to win, they said. 'It is a very good experience,' Tsang said. 'Even if we hadn't won, it would not have been a failure, because we had tried our best.'
More than 40 nations took part in the December 10 to 12 championships. Hong Kong sent 15 teams, several of which also won medals, helping push the city's score to second-highest overall.
Participants were required to prepare five dances, each lasting one to two minutes, and to go through six or seven rounds over the three days.
Tsang and Chan arrived in Paris a day before the competition in the middle of Europe's icy cold snap and said it was not the time difference that hit them the most, but the weather. 'It was cold there and that affected my breathing,' Tsang said.
Walter Wat Mong-kuen, a judge in the championships and vice-chairman of the World Dance Council, said the two were very musical and co-operated well in the dancing.
Tsang has learned Latin dance for six years and Chan, five. They prepared for about six months, practising three to four days a week. At weekends, when there was no school, they danced nine hours a day.
Their coach, Mandy Yiu Sau-mui, said the pair were very talented and picked up the skills very quickly.
Chan, who has just graduated from secondary school, is now an assistant to her coach. Tsang is studying business in the Institute of Vocational Education. Both hope to be professional dancers and are trying to obtain coaching licences.
