WUDC 2015: 10 Indonesian Teams Secure Slots, ITB Missing

Ten teams from 7 Indonesian institutions are on the updated attendance list of the 2015 World Universities Debating Championship in Kuala Lumpur. Those who have been part of the original list should pay before July 31 while teams that got updated allocations have until August 29 to meet their payment obligations. The number of Indonesian participants may increase if other teams from Indonesia can get on the main list after the aforementioned deadlines. Institut Teknologi Bandung, which championed the 2014 WUDC's English-as-Foreign-Language category, was missing from the main list after its allocation was dropped. Click here to access the registration list. The 10 teams are as follows:
 
Universitas Indonesia - 3 teams
Universitas Gadjah Mada - 2 teams
Binus International - 1 teamBinus University - 1 team
Institut Pertanian Bogor - 1 team
Universitas Atma Jaya Jakarta - 1 team
Universitas Padjadjaran - 1 team

WSDC 2014: Draw's Out, Indonesia Meets 5 Familiar Rivals

The draw for the 2014 World Schools Debating Championships in Bangkok for Team Indonesia looks quiet similar to last year's. They will face Wales, Romania, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Greece again. Indonesia lost to the first three and defeated the last two in WSDC 2013. The other opponents will be Canada, Sweden and Estonia. Indonesia has never lost to Sweden and Estonia before in WSDC.

All WSDC teams must debate 8 different teams in the preliminary stage, supposedly one from each of the 8 rank-based groupings. However, this year Indonesia received an unlucky draw that has led the team to meet 2 B class countries and none from the H class. Indonesia is in the E grouping (#25-30) and ranks #28 out of 46 contestants. The WSDC groupings are calculated based on victories and judge votes in the past 3 championships. Canada is from group A. So, it is the highest ranked team Indonesia will face in the mandatory rounds. Four preliminaries have prepared motions and the other four rounds are impromptu. Winning less than 5 prelims guarantees seats in the audience during the knockouts.

Since its WSDC entry in 2001, Indonesia has broken twice into the octofinals in 2003 and 2004, both with 5 wins. The highest achievement is #11 in 2003 but the team which collected the most judge votes was the one that went to WSDC 2010 in Qatar. Unfortunately, the latter did not break although they also collected 5 wins. Only the top 16 teams can break into the knockouts. Last year, Team Indonesia won the best English-as-Foreign-Language team award ended at #22 after having a 4-4 record.

The members of Team Indonesia 2014 are Alif Azadi (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), Kevin Bonaparte (SMA 17 Makassar), Marsa Harisa (SMA 9 Yogyakarta), Regina Cara Riantoputra (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan) and John Amadeo (Raffles International Christian School Jakarta). There is no returning member in this team, one aspect that will be common in other contingents. The coaches are Subarkah Syafrudin and Riza Aryani, former Universitas Indonesia debaters who won the English-as-Second-Language category of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships.

The draw, speaking positions and motions for Team Indonesia 2014's debates are as follows:
R0 Prop vs United Arab Emirates  (#9/B) - Impromptu

R1 Opp vs Canada (#6/A) - THBT post-revolution states should delegate trials of former rulers and high-ranking officials to the International Criminal Court
R3 Prop vs Sweden (#40/G) - THW allow prisoners to volunteer for drug trials in exchange for lighter sentences

R4 Opp vs Greece (#10/B) - Impromptu
R5 Opp vs Romania (#34/F) - THBT slum tourism does more harm than good

R6 Prop vs Wales (#16/C) - Impromptu
R7 Prop vs Estonia (#20/D) - THW lift tax exemptions from religious institutions that refuse to recognize marriage equality

R8 Opp vs Turkey (#27/E) - Impromptu

DOTY 2014: UGM Duo Keep Lead After Asian Success

Universitas Gadjah Mada debaters Romario Tambunan and Indriani Pratiwi are still leading the 2014 Debater of the Year table after good results in this year's United Asian Debating Championship. The former won the 2014 UADC's English-as-Foreign-Language category while both were among the top 10 Indonesian speakers in the Asia's most prestigious tournament. Their strong run this year began when they triumphed in the national 3-on-3 championship last January.

The 2014 edition of Java Overland Varsities English Debate, the first debate tournament in Indonesia with an internationally accepted format, also contributed to the current standing. Binus International sibling debaters Melisa Irene and Wilson Salim took home the best team and individual awards from the competition, which was held in Semarang. Both of them have now slipped into the top ten of the DOTY 2014 table, which can be found below. The full list can be accessed here.

1. Romario Tambunan (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
2. Indriani Pratiwi (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
3. Melisa Irene (Binus International)
4. Roderick Sibarani (Universitas Indonesia)
5. Erwina Salsabila (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
6. Vicario Reinaldo (Institut Teknologi Bandung)
7. Alif Satria (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
8. Cindy Fransisca (Universitas Atma Jaya)
9. Wilson Salim (Binus International)
10. Magreta Kailla Adenta (Universitas Indonesia)

UI Debater Defends Jakarta Mini Title with an UI Alumnus

Final year Universitas Indonesia student Dennys Kapa retained his title in Jakarta Mini 2014 but with a different partner, Ahmad Naufal Dai, who graduated from UI a few years ago. In the final, Dennys' team defeated his accomplice from last year's tournament, Rifan Ibnu Rahman, who debated with Dhia Fairus Shofia. The other finalists were Aulia Anggita & Ibrahim Panji Indra from UI and Aulia Widyaputra & Muhammad Lutfi from Institut Teknologi Bandung. Jakarta Mini is a small-size British Parliamentary open competition held by Binus University, which annually attracts strong debaters from across the main island of Java.    

Victoria Wellington Wins Australs 2014, Third Title in 5 Years

#1 Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Asher Emanuel, Jodie O'Neill, Nicholas Cross) championed the 2014 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships after defeating #3 University of Sydney 2 (Evie Woodforde, Joanna Connolly, Emma Johnstone) in the grand final in Otago, New Zealand. The trio reached the final last year but lost to another Sydney 2 team with different members. It was Victoria's sixth Australs title, the third triumph in the last five years. Victoria's Asher Emanuel also became the best speaker of the tournament. International Islamic University 1 (Ameera Moore, Mubarrat Wassey, Ahmad Hazim Norahmadi)  won the English-as-Second Language category. Ameera Moore and Mubarrat Wassey repeated last year's achievement.