Fife Irish dancer wins Scottish open championship title

Diane Davie triumphed in Glasgow and qualified for the world championships that will be held next year.

The 38-year old, who lives in East Wemyss, brought the trophy home after a hectic year of training throughout the pandemic.

She said: “This is the second time that the championships have been held in Scotland so I’m very happy that I won.

“The first time the competition was held here was two years ago, and I went out in the first round – it was the one of the worst days that I’ve ever had."

But she enjoyed huge success this time round – and close to home too.

"The event was very busy with a lot of dancers so it’s such a great achievement to have won,” she said.

Diane has won the world championships before, but counts her Scottish qualifying victory as her greatest success yet.

"I’ve won the world title before but to bring the Scottish trophy home with me, knowing that I had hardly any preparation time, felt just as good as winning the world.

“Obviously with the pandemic all of my training had to be done over Zoom, and my dad was unwell and in the hospital as well so I never had nearly enough time to prepare.”She added: “Who knows what will happen next year, but I’m hopeful that I’ll do well.

"I always say that I’m going to retire from dancing, but I’m still going at it.”

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.