IPC Suomi Open Championship

Paula Moulton and Gary Lyness travelled to Lohja, just outside Helsinki in Finland last weekend to represent Great Britain at the IPC Suomi Open Championship.

The competition organised by the Finnish Wheelchair Dance Association was the first international competition to be organised in Finland and comprised of the Suomi Open Championship, the Finnish National Championship and the IPC Approved Suomi Open.

Dancers from over 10 countries were in attendance in the fantastic venue of the Susi Training Centre at Kisakallio.  The floor was a joy to dance on!

The first day saw the beginners and amateur level dancers take to the floor followed by the IPC Competition with the Single Men which was dominated by Russia’s Maksim Sedakov and Germany’s Erik Machens.  Combi Standard couples took to the floor also led by Russia and Ukraine and finally the Duo Latin couples danced perfectly by the winners – Ukraine’s Ivan and Nadiia Sivak, the current World and European Champions.

Day 2 of the competition saw Great Britain take to the floor with Paula dancing in the Single Ladies, just missing out on the final, which was deservedly won by Russia’s Galina Ryzhkova, by one point, placing 7^th.

The duo standard event was again won by Ukraine’s Nadiia and Ivan Sivak giving them double gold in the Duo events.

The Latin Combi 2 competition was fiercely fought at the top by the Russian couples with Paula and Gary placing 5^th in the final, a great result for them after getting back on to the competition floor after almost a year following injury and illness.  Paula said “we danced well for our first competition of the year and were very pleased with our performance.  The competition was well organised and all credit goes to Finland for hosting such a major event for the first time”.

You can see photos from the event on our Facebook page.

Gary and Paula’s next outing will be at the end of May in Frankfurt at the IPC Mainhatten Cup.

You can see one of our competition routines below!