3rd Hanoi Asian Indoor Games

Our Team Dancesport Malaysia will be competing in Hong Kong today, 1st of March in the IDSF OPEN . There are not many dancesport Championships in Malaysia and to a large extend you have to ask the MDSB why this is so, that is if you can get an answer from them. In 2006/2007 there were 6 Championship ranking, 3 Championship a year. This year there were the ranking in Batu Pahat by the MPDC. MPDC is a professional body in Malaysia. In the international scene, the IPDSC and IDSF are working hand in hand in promoting dancesport. In Malaysia MPDC theoretically have to work hand in hand with MDSB, unfortunately there is no one in MDSB can actually lend any helping hand save for agreeing to a ranking organised by MPDC and MDSB. Complicationg is it not. I am just as confused.

Anyway the second National ranking will be in April, and if I am not mistaken it will be held in Lake Club Kuala Lumpur on the 25 or 26th of April. This Championship is a low key championship just to cater for the selection of Team Dancesport Malaysia 2009. Do not fault the organisers in this. The ranking is not their job, they just sought the assistance of MPDC to carry out this ranking and we want to ensure that the ranking is carried out fairly in the circumstances. The current economic situation does not help either and we may have to use more local judges in this ranking but a bigger spread of judges. The reason for a bigger spread of judges is to ensure that no one judges' marking can influence the final results. Ideally international judges will be good unfortunately we have to deal with the prevailing circumstances and make good of the situation.

We have made it clear to all Category A & Category B adjudicators that, MPDC expects them to judge fairly and to the best of their ability. We want the very best to represent the country and we hope to achieve this. As for our Dancesport athletes, MPDC and their respective coaches holds the views that our Malaysian Dances need more exposure in International Dancesport competition. Travelling overseas is an expensive business and they do so at their own costs and expense. There are competition in Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Singapore and Chinese Taipei this year and we do hope to encourage our Malaysian team to go for such competitions.

The 3rd Hanoi Asian Indoor Games 2009 Dancesport competition will be held at the Quan Ngua Sports Complex. As soon as I am able to get pictures of the interior, I will post it on this blog. The Hotel that will be housing the Dancesport team is the La Thant Hotel, it used to be a French Colonial building. My Vietnamese counterpart told me that it is indeed a charming place and many of the waiters and waitresses can manage halting English but very free with the French language. November is Autumn in Hanoi and the weather is chilly, most certainly you need a jumper, in December and January near the "TET" ( Vietnamese New Year). The average day time temperature is 15 to 18 degree Celsius. One new year year the temperature fell to 10 degrees.

Will keep you informed further.

3rd Asian Indoor Games, Hanoi, Vietnam

The Olympic Council of Malaysia has announced that the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi, Vietnam will be held from 30th October till the 8th of November. The manual for Dancesport is not out yet, but I suppose the format and sequences of the dances should be the same with 12 medals in total open for contention. In the Macau 2007, 2nd Asian Indoor Games each country can technically bring in 12 couples for Dancesport, meaning you can plan a couple to specialise in a particular event. However in the Team Dancesport Malaysia 2007, we only selected 3 of Malaysian top ranked couples in each discipline. Latin American and Standard. Will there be a change in Team Dancesport Malaysia 2009 ? This will depend on MPDC and the announcement that will follow after the 3rd ranking.

The logo is an image of a lotus created by flaming colour petals. The petals are made to look like hands holding a symbol of Asian Solidarity, Friendship and cooperation ( extract from AIG web site). What I was told is that Dancesport will be held at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace. No dates have been given but we do hope that it will be early so that all of our athletes and officials have the opportunity to attend the Opening Ceremony. A very exciting experience of camaraderie to make new friends from the Asian region, exchanging pin badges and taking lots of pictures. The hotel allocated for Dancesports the La Than Hotel, it looks like one of those charming French Colonial Hotels and again looking at the map it is walking distance from the Hotel to the Competition Venue. The location of the Sport Palace is next to a very beautiful Lake called the West Lake by the Vietnamese. To use a term by a Vietnamese friend, to describe West Lake, "... that place is " So Happening". I suppose those who are familiar with that lingo, a place with lots of activities.

I will keep you posted more and if possible pictures of the Sporting Venue and more news on the 3rd Asian Indoor Games as and when it comes in. It would be good if you want to know more about the Games to Google on 3rd Asian Indoor Games, Hanoi