Twenty countries in Jakarta dancesport event

JAKARTA: As many as 156 dancesport pairs from 20 countries began their competition in the one-day international dancesport contest at Hotel Mulia Senayan in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, according to a release.

Indonesia had the bulk of the participants, with 56 pairs, followed by the Philippines, China and Japan. Among the world's notable dancesport pairs were Arunas Bizokas and Edita Daniute from Lithuania, and Dominco Soale and Riccardo Cocchi from Italy.

The contest featured competition in several classes, including tango, foxtrot, quickstep, paso doble, jive, cha-cha, samba and rumba. The results were not available until late in the day.

Indonesia has also been assigned to hold the 2003 competition, which, according to official of the Indonesian Dancesport Association (Fordi) Soenarko Josodiharjo, should be a good opportunity for the country to optimize its potential in the sport ahead of its being officially contested at the 2008 Olympics.