ITB Teams Take 1, 2, 3 in PNEDC Lampung Debate

Teams containing former and current debaters from Institut Teknologi Bandung went home with the three top awards from the 2013 Politeknik Negeri Lampung National English Debating Championship. Nobody from Lampung province or the entire Sumatra island reached the penultimate match. The only non-ITB team in the final, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, also crossed the sea from Java island to join this event, which had 13 teams.

Rifan Ibnu Rahman, the winner of last year's edition who graduated from ITB a few months ago, continued his reign this time with former schoolmate Melliza Pretty Utami. The second and third places went to ITB B (Fiski Aditya & Taufiq Bashori) and ITB C (Wisnu Aryo Setio & Midia Arifandi), respectively, above the other finalist EFEC Unsoed (Gilang Nugraha & Kiky Apriana). 

English Parade 2013: Key Results

Champions: Universitas Gadjah Mada B (Caessar Pronocitro & Thoriq Murtadho)
Finalists: Universitas Gadjah Mada C (Gentur Adiutama & Indriani Pratiwi), Universitas Gadjah Mada D (Ali Bachtiar & Muhammad Fidhzariyan), Rahmatullah (Nur Rizki Oceano/Universitas Brawijaya & Nadiyah Jubair/Universitas Negeri Malang)
Best Speaker: Amir Abdul Aziz (Universitas Gadjah Mada A) & Caessar Pronocitro (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)

Muhammad Fidhzariyan (UGM D) speaks as PM in English Parade Final

Top 10 Speakers
1. Amir Abdul Aziz (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
1. Caessar Pronocitro (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)
3. Nur Rizki Oceano (Rahmatullah/Universitas Brawijaya)
4. Dianty Widyowati (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
5. Nadiyah Jubair (Rahmatullah/Universitas Negeri Malang)
6. Gentur Adiutama (Universitas Gadjah Mada C)
7. Indriani Pratiwi (Universitas Gadjah Mada C)
8. Thoriq Murtadho (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)
9. Muhammad Fidhzariyan (Universitas Gadjah Mada D)
10. Aditya Janu (Margonda Reunion/Universitas Brawijaya)

English Parade Win Gives UGM Fourth Trophy in 2013

UGM B (Caessar Pronocitro & Thoriq Murtadho)

Universitas Gadjah Mada debaters continued their winning streak after a victory in the 2013 English Parade in Malang. They have now collected four trophies from four tournaments held in four different cities this year. They have surpassed their haul in the entire 2012 although the third month of 2013 has not ended yet. The three previous wins came from Solo Open Debating Championships, ALSA Unpad E-Challenge in Bandung and the Aku Untuk Indonesiaku Surabaya Debate.

In the EP final, UGM B (Caessar Pronocitro & Thoriq Murthado) outclassed UGM C (Gentur Adiutama & Indriani Pratiwi), UGM D (Ali Bachtiar & Muhammad Fidhzariyan) and a composite team called "Rahmatullah" (Nur Rizki Oceano - Universitas Brawijaya & Nadiyah Jubair - Universitas Negeri Malang). UGM debater Amir Abdul Aziz, who have won 3 trophies this year for his school, did not reach the EP final but he took the best speaker award, something that had slipped from his fingers in the past 2013 tournaments.

AUI 2013: Key Results

Champions: #3 Universitas Gadjah Mada B (Amir Abdul Aziz, Erwina Salsabila, Romario Tambunan)
Finalists: #1 Universitas Gadjah Mada A (Alif Satria, Dianty Widyowati, Indriani Pratiwi)
Best Speaker: Alif Satria (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)

UGM B (Erwina Salsabila, Amir Abdul Aziz, Romario Tambunan)

Top 10 Speakers
1. Alif Satria (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
2. Amir Abdul Aziz (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)
2. Erwina Salsabila (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)
2. Dianty Widyowati (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
2. Indriani Pratiwi (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
6. Nur Rizki Oceano (Universitas Brawijaya A)
6. Yeremia Dimpudus (Universitas Brawijaya A)
6. Queentries Regar (Universitas Brawijaya A)
6. Romario Tambunan (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)
6. Wida Wahyuni (Universitas Gadjah Mada C)

AUI 2013: UGM, Amir Abdul Aziz Win Third Trophy of This Year

UGM B (Amir Abdul Aziz, Erwina Salsabila, Romario Tambunan)

2013 is less than 3 months old but Universitas Gadjah Mada has scored a hat-trick with the victory in this year's Aku Untuk Indonesiaku Debate in Surabaya. UGM teams previously won the Solo Open Debating Championship and the ALSA Unpad E-Challenge. In each winning team, there was fourth-year student Amir Abdul Aziz.

#1 UGM B (Amir Abdul Aziz, Erwina Salsabila, Romario Tambunan) defeated schoolmates #3 UGM B (Alif Satria, Dianty Widyowati, Indriani Pratiwi) in today's final at Universitas Kristen Petra. Each time UGM wins this year, one of its debaters grabs the best speaker but never the same person. This time, freshman Alif Satria topped the tab above his seniors. The ex-WSDC debater has now collected 2 championships and 1 best speaker title long before the end of his first year.

The English Parade will start tomorrow in Malang with 4 UGM teams on the list. They are obviously hot favourites. Four trophies within less than 3 months would be record-setting.  

AUI 2013: Second All-UGM Final in Less Than 30 Days

Universitas Gadjah Mada debaters are on a roll. Two UGM teams will meet this afternoon in the last match of the Aku Untuk Indonesiaku Debate in Surabaya less than a month after they created an all-UGM final in the ALSA Unpad E-Challenge. #1 UGM B (Amir Abdul Aziz, Erwina Salsabila, Romario Tambunan) and #3 UGM A (Alif Satria, Dianty Widyowati, Indriani Pratiwi) both defeated teams from Universitas Brawijaya in the semifinals. UGM debaters have won two trophies in 2013 so far through teams that had Amir Abdul Aziz and Alif Satria. The upcoming final will decide which debater can become the first to win three titles this year.

UI Wins Petrogas Debate, First Trophy in 2013

After coming up short in the past three months, powerhouse Universitas Indonesia grabbed its first trophy of this year from the small, thematic Petrogas Days 2013 debate today. UI A (Agita Nalsalia, Rio Trimono, Terry Muthahhari) defeated a team from Institut Teknologi 10 Nopember Surabaya in the grand final. Geography sophomore Rio Trimono, who is the only natural science student in the team, also took home the best speaker award of the competition, which had energy-related motions. The debate competition was part of a series of events that included a national seminar, student conference and a chemical product design contest.

Jaran Walia Keeps Lead, UGM Debaters Swamp DOTY 2013 List

Jaran Walia from Binus International is still leading the 2013 Debater of the Year list after topping the speaker tab in last month's Asian English Olympics. Universitas Gadjah Mada debaters Amir Abdul Aziz and Alif Satria, however, are not far behind. They are part of the UGM wave that has flooded the list this year. Eighteen UGM students have gotten on the table, one-third of the total so far. After dominating the Solo Open Debating Championship in January, these Yogyakarta-based debaters created an all-UGM final in ALSA Unpad E-Challenge last month. That trend may continue this month as 5 UGM teams will compete in a 30-team English Parade competition in Malang, which will not be attended by the strongest institutions from Jakarta or Bandung. Click here for full table.

Top 10 of DOTY 2013 table as of February:
1. Jaran Walia (Binus International)
2. Amir Abdul Aziz (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
3. Alif Satria (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
4. Dennys Kapa (Universitas Indonesia)
5. Invi Atmanegara (Binus International)
6. Alvine Stefan (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
7. Nabila Aghniarizqa (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
8. Dianty Widyowati (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
9. Andrew Sadeli (Binus International)
10. Fauzan Reza Maulana (Institut Teknologi Bandung)

NUEDC Becomes NUDC; Changes Go Beyond New Name

The education ministry has dropped the word "English" in the national BP tournament, changing the event's name to the National Universities Debating Championships (NUDC). However, that is not the only thing that has changed, according to uploads on the ministry's website. Click here to access the site. The most substantial revision is the winner of the novice category will no longer get a ticket to the World Universities Debating Championships, which will take place next in Chennai, India. The ministry will now only send the 3 best teams in the main final and the top team on the tab.

The WUDC ticket for the best novice team was one reason behind a trend among some novice squads in past NUEDCs to forego opportunities to debate in the main elimination round even though they got into the top 32. Many of them preferred to debate in the novice finals where rewards, including a WUDC ticket, were easier to obtain. This practice of sand-bagging made teams ranked lower than those novices able to advance into the main knockouts. The result was the 32 teams in the octofinals were not the actual best 32.

Outside of the WUDC tickets, the reward system will stay the same. All champions and finalists in both categories will receive prize money and trophies while top 10 main and novice speakers will get medals. The definition of novice for NUDC 2013 will be set by the chief adjudicator who has not been chosen yet.

The dates and venue for NUDC are also still unclear. The ministry only gave a rough timeline similar to the one used in recent years. The regionals will take place in May while the national round will be held in June. The division of the regions will continue to follow the Kopertis system, which is the way private Indonesian universities are regionally monitored. Each of the 12 regions will send the best 8 teams to the nationals, which will have 96 squads -- 192 debaters and 96 N1 adjudicators. Participants must be registered in March or April at respective regional offices and substitutions are not allowed. Favourites Universitas Bakrie had to forfeit the national rounds last year after one of the speakers chose to take a scholarship after the regionals. 

ALSA Unpad E-Challenge 2013: Key Results

Champions: Universitas Gadjah Mada A (Alif Satria, Amir Abdul Aziz, Nabila Aghniarizqa)
Finalists: Universitas Gadjah Mada B (Alvine Stefan, Muhammad Fidhzariyan, Wida Wahyuni)
Best Speaker: Nabila Aghniarizqa (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
Best High School Team: SMA 1 Kristen BPK Penabur Bandung A (Aurora Maria, Evan Yonathan, Sandy Sanjaya)
Best High School Speaker: Patricia Kuwadi (SMA 1 Kristen BPK Penabur Bandung B)

Top 10 Speakers
1. Nabila Aghniarizqa (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
2. Aryo Febrian (Universitas Bakrie A)
3. Melisa Irene (Binus International A)
4. Revian Wirabuana (Universitas Parahyangan A)
5. Amir Abdul Aziz (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
5. Alif Satria (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
7. Sabarudin Adinugroho (Binus University A)
8. Alvine Stefan (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)
8. Yosaka Eka Putranta (Institut Teknologi Bandung B)
10. Wilson Salim (Binus International A)

WSDC 2013: Indonesia Still Best EFL Team After Tab Revisions

Complaints about the tabs for the English-as-Foreign-Language (EFL) and English-as-Second-Language (ESL) hit the organisers of the 2013 World Schols Debating Championships as soon as they were announced at the closing ceremony. The errors mostly involved speakers who were not properly registered as EFL or ESL. IndoDebate received the revisions a few weeks ago but chose to hold back until the official WSDC website upload them and waited further to ensure there would be no more changes. The good news is Indonesia is still the best EFL team of WSDC 2013.

Unfortunately, the best EFL speaker is no longer from Team Indonesia as the revised list is now topped by Dutch speaker Joris Broeders. The new position for SMA 4 Denpasar's Carrisa Tehputri is 4th on the EFL tab. Team mates Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita, also from SMA 4 Denpasar, and Adeline Tiffanie, from SMA Kristen 1 Jakarta, are also on the top 20 EFL speaker list, ranked 8th and 18th, respectively. Click here for the EFL speaker list. The fourth member was Sayyid Habibullah from SMA 3 Pontianak. Team Indonesia won 4 of their 8 mandatory debates, placing them 22nd on the team tab. Only the top 16 teams could advance into the knockouts.

Chief Adjudicator Aaron Maniam has apologized for this mistake and promised he would write a letter of recommendation for these speakers if they need any for their university applications. Changes also hit the ESL list. The best speaker in that category shifted to Mexico's Diego Cepeda from Indian speaker Siddarth Srikanth, who dropped to second.