Congratulations to all Midlands couples who competed at the United Kingdom Open Championships in Bournemouth this week. Once again we can be proud of the dancers based in the Midlands!

The UK Open championships take place in Bournemouth over three days, with Championships for Amateurs and Profressionals, in both Ballroom and Latin, as well as Rising Star events - 8 Championships in total. This is a tough competition with couples from all over the world attending, and usually over 200 couples in each event. With so many competitors, and so few british couples attending it is rare that any British couples progress beyond the first or second rounds! However, we have a few notable exceptions from the Midlands:

Amateur Rising Star Latin - Andrew Escolme and Amy Baker - reached the 3rd round (top 48) out of 180 couples starting.

Amateur Rising Star Ballroom - Jack Beale and Karolina Szmit reached the quarter finals (top 24) and Steven Arnold and Charlotte Cutler reached 3rd round (top 48)out of 140 couples starting.

Amateur Latin - Andrew Escolme and Amy Baker - reached the 4th round (top 48) out of 230 couples starting.

Professional Ballroom - Chris Short and Elisa Chanaa reached the quarter finals (24) out of 145 starters

Amateur Ballroom - Mark and Olga Elsbury and Jack Beale and Karolina Szmit both reached the quarter final round (top 24). Steven Arnold and Charlotte Cutler reached 4th round (top 48) out of 145 couples starting.

Well Done to to you all!