It's the special moments that count

The Standard and Latin Grand Slam series tournaments on the penultimate and final evenings of the German Open have always been guaranteed to deliver these special moments. The Grand Slam Latin tournament had already begun on Friday with 176 couples taking part. Spread over Saturday, the dancers were challenged in six further rounds – at least if they wanted to reach the final.

For the second time in a row, Charles-Guillaume Schmitt/Elena Salikhova from France stood at the top of the winners' podium. The couple made their debut at the GOC 18 years ago in the junior class in the Hegelsaal and tonight won the Grand Slam in the same pairing. The runners-up are also regular guests at the mega-event in Stuttgart's Liederhalle Culture and Congress Center and can now add a silver medal to their GOC medal collection. Malte Brinch Rhode/Sandra Sorensen took third place, losing the duel for second place by two to three dances.

Immediately after the final, the couples lit an atmospheric dance firework display and presented themselves individually with short show sequences. The Beethoven Hall erupted. Things quieted down a bit when Harry Körner, the initiator of the GOC, announced that he had accompanied the couples for the last time at this event that evening. Visibly moved, Harry Körner bid farewell to the German Open Championships after 39 years.

And once again, a fantastic event with many special moments came to an end.

1. Charles-Guillaume Schmitt/Elena Salikhova, France (5)
2. Yan Bangbang/Du Jujun, P.R. China (12)
3. Malte Brinch Rhode/Sandra Sorensen, Denmark (13)
4. Ionut Alexandru Miculescu/Andra Pacurar, Roumania (20)
5. Konstantin Gorodilov/Polina Figurenko, Estonia (25)
6. Artur Balandin/Anna Salita, T.T.C. Rot-Weiß-Silber Bochum (30)