The Twirl World Championship in Eindhoven is now on. Wednesday evening was the opening and today the games for the thirteen participating countries started. Els van Vugt from Eindhoven is thrilled to be able to represent the Netherlands in her hometown.
Twirling is a sport in which dance is combined with a baton. The twirlers hold the baton while dancing. A jury assesses the dance and gives a score based on that. It is important that the baton does not fall to the floor; otherwise the twirler will receive a penalty point.
According to Van Vugt, the sport is different from majorette. “Twirling is done on a floor in a hall and majorette is really with a fanfare on the street. That is more the old-fashioned form. What we do is really top sport. There is much more discipline involved.”
The wait began in 2020
She’s been looking forward to it for two years and now it’s finally here. “I am so looking forward to this. We would already be twirling here in 2020, but then it was cancelled due to corona. Now I can finally compete for the world title, with my family and friends in the audience. Really cool,” explains Els van Vugt.
It is her first World Cup in her own country and that applies to several in the team. “Almost everyone who was on the team two years ago is still there. That is very good, because motivation was less during the corona crisis,” says coach Nancy Malepaard.
Medals
The Dutch team is participating in the solo and team events. The expectations are very high. “World champion would be the best, but the United States is really in a class of its own. I think there is still a medal in it. That should be doable,” says Malepaard.
For Van Vugt it is a bit different. “We have trained very hard for this for two and a half years and we will see where it will be. It already feels very special that we are here.”
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Muktha Kartik Iyer
