ALSA Unpad EC 2014: Unpar Wins, Stops Paramadina's Cinderella Run

Gema Bastari (Paramadina) takes a point from Jeanne Sanjaya (Unpar)

#2 Universitas Parahyangan A (Revian Wirabuana, Devris Wijaya, Jeanne Sanjaya) defeated #9 Universitas Paramadina (Gema Bastari, Aliefah Saras, Retno Dewati) in the final of the 2014 ALSA Unpad E-Challenge debate, ending the runner up's Cinderella run. Paramadina pulled off one upset after another when they eliminated teams from powerhouses Universitas Indonesia and Universitas Gadjah Mada in the previous rounds, including #1 UGM A that had not lost a match in the tournament before the encounter with the underdog.

For Unpar, it was the first debate trophy in four years since a victory in the EU-IDC debate way back in 2010. Unpar with UI were the universities that laid the foundation for competitive debating in Indonesia in 1997. For Paramadina, it was the first ever appearance in a final of a major nationwide tournament. While the Unpar trio are all former high school debating stars, the Paramadina team members lacked any significant pre-university English public speaking experience, let alone debating ones. Their meeting in the final shows anyone can excel if they work hard.

The Unpar team's main engine, Revian Wirabuana, who represented Indonesia in the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships, also grabbed the tournament's best speaker title.