Unsoed Wins First Nationwide Trophy in Makassar Open

Universitas Jenderal Soedirman has been involved in Indonesian competitive debating since the very start, including as the finalist of the first ever Indonesian Varsities English Debate in 1998, but it had come short from winning a nationwide tournament until yesterday when its debaters defeated three Universitas Hasanuddin teams in the 2012 Makassar Debate Open. The champions, Unsoed A (Algi Rahmat Alfianto & Riswanto Jusuf), were among the handful of teams who crossed the time zone to debate in Makassar after organizers at Politeknik Negeri Ujung Pandang could expand this previously local tournament to include teams from Java, Papua and other cities on Sulawesi island. The best speaker award went to Muhammad Akbar Walenna who just graduated from Universitas Hasanuddin.