Pune’s Shreya Shah and Lt. General Manoj Unni Represent India at the World Tango Championships

Reported by Varad Bhatkhande

Pune/Buenos Aires, 24th August 2024: Shreya Shah and her dance partner, Lt. General (retd) Manoj Unni, both from Pune, recently represented India at the Mundial de Baile de Tango (World Tango Dance Championships) held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

According to Shreya’s husband, Anand Shah, 520 couples from 53 countries participated, with only 170 advancing to the semifinals. Shreya and Manoj achieved a score of 6.445 after two rounds, falling short of the semifinal cutoff of 7.040. As the sole Indian couple, they drew significant interest and are actively involved in the Pune Tango Community, contributing both as dancers and community supporters.

Unni said, “We completed the preliminary rounds and participated in two additional rounds, receiving favourable scores from the judges. Although we didn’t advance to the semifinals, we’re thrilled with our performance, especially since it was our debut on the world stage.” He is a cardiac surgeon who led the Armed Forces Medical Services until October 2017 and served with the 9 Para (Special Forces) as a regimental medical officer from 1979 to 1981.

Shreya, a homemaker with a master’s degree in economics, added, “We practised four hours daily for the past four months. Dancing with participants from various countries, including Russia, China, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia, was exhilarating.”