Diageo cuts World Class finalists down to 16

Diageo has revealed the final 16 competitors through to the 2014 Diageo World Class final in London.

The 46 finalists took the train from Scotland to London St Pancras to begin their first challenge yesterday

The drinks group has whittled the 46 global finalists down to just 16, in what is the first and biggest cull of the competition.

Following a series of challenges over the past two days, only the most innovative, creative and skilled bartenders have been chosen to continue.

Challenges so far have included Blend of Two Worlds, Sensory, A Tale of Two Martinis and Five Star Classics.

Tomorroe (31 June) will see the remaining 16 bartenders compete in the Gastronomy and Market challenges before a further elimination takes place. The Against the Clock challenge will then whittle down the competitors once more.

Those left in the final will be asked to complete a Signature challenge on 1 August before the winner is announced at the World Class Awards Ceremony, held at Old Billingsgate that evening.

Judges during the week include the likes of Dale DeGroff, Peter Dorelli, Daniel Estremadoyro, Salvatore Calabrese, Steve Olson, Gaz Regan, Julie Reiner and Hidetsugu Ueno.

The 16 finalists continuing in the 2014 Diageo World Class competition, who will compete in the following order tomorrow, are:

Anton Velich – Slovakia
Jan Liska – UAE
Grant Sceney – Canada
Charlie Ainsbury – Australia
Mido Ahmed Yahi – France
Le Thann Tung – Vietnam
Claudio Perinelli – Italy
Kaori Kurakami – Japan
Leroy Soumokil – Netherlands
Jeffrey Chang – Taiwan
Peter Chua – Singapore
Hardeep Rehal – Denmark
Hannah van Ongevalle – Belgium
Charles Joly – USA
Giacomo Gianotti – Spain
Ronnaporn Kanivichaporn – Thailand