The press conference was held yesterday, so was the final meeting of the Austrian Open Organising Committee, let the championship begin!
83 couples representing 46 National Member Bodies have entered the 2014 World Standard that will be held at the Multiversum in Vienna-Schwechat on Saturday 15 November. It is eagerly anticipated by all as a "brand new" World Champion will be declared. The 2013 Champions Emanuel Valeri and Tania Kehlet, DEN, have turned professional earlier this year.
Who are the favourites to become their successors? Two couples are mentioned most often by experts: Simone Segatori - Annette Sudol, GER, and Dmitry Zharkov - Olga Kulikova, RUS. Which of the two should be considered the "favoured" favourite depends on the expert one is talking to. Last time they faced off against each other was nearly two months ago in Wuhan, CHN. There, Segatori - Sudol kept the upper hand in a tight contest that was ultimately decided by a 1.27 points.
Serious competition comes from Lithuania, traditionally one of the strongest countries in Standard: Vaidotas Lacitis - Veronika Golodneva and Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva Zukauskaite should definitely be considered for a top place. As should Nikolay Darin - Natalia Seredina, MDA! During yesterday's press conference, Vasily Kirin and Ekaterina Prozorova, AUT, were mentioned as potential finalists too. They placed fifth in the GrandSlam Moscow two weeks ago.
Looking Back To Wuhan, CHN
That was nearly two months ago. To get ready for Saturday, watch the full-length GrandSlam semi-final and final at http://vimeo.com/ondemand/2014gsstandardwuhan