WSDC 2014: Best Team Indonesia Ever with 6 Wins and 16 Judge Points

Team Indonesia in WSDC 2014 at Assumption University Bangkok (l to r) : Riza Aryani (coach), Kevin Bonaparte (SMA 17 Makassar), Alif Azadi (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), John Amadeo (Raffles International School Jakarta), Regina Cara Riantoputra (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan), Marsa Harisa (SMA 9 Yogyakarta), Subarkah Syafruddin (coach)

Team Indonesia advanced into the octofinals of the 2014 World Schools Debating Championships in Bangkok with 6 wins and 2 losses, the best ever record by the country's high school debaters. Indonesia had only broken twice before, in 2003 and 2004, both times with a 5-3 record in the 8-round mandatory stage. The 2010 team also won 5 times in the preliminaries but came short from breaking.

In the preliminaries, Team Indonesia defeated 6 European squads - Sweden, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Estonia and an English-as-first-language team Wales, which reached the final of WSDC in 2012. They only lost to WSDC 2010 champion Canada and United Arab Emirates. Team Indonesia broke as the 11th team on the list, equalling the rank of the WSDC 2003 squad. Indonesia's upset win over Wales made the latter fail to break in the end but it was not the only favourite that collapsed. Former champions Scotland and the United States also could not qualify into the Top 16.

Team Indonesia 2014 consist of 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). Their overall speaker score was quite high, indicating some of them may enter the top 50 speaker list. Only two Indonesians have entered that illustrious list - sisters Siti Astrid Kusumawardhani and Siti Soraya Cassandra in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

Their coaches are Australs ESL champion Subarkah Syafruddin, an Universitas Indonesia alumnus who guided Team Indonesia to respectable 4-4 finishes in WSDC 2012 and 2013, and his Australs teammate and fellow UI graduate Riza Aryani. The coaches fought for the provision of the fifth seat in the team for a debater who comes from outside the education ministry system of selection.

That fifth member, John Amadeo who comes from an English-speaking school, was an integral part of the success. The two girls in the squad, Regina Cara Riantoputra and Marsa Harisa, are well-known high school debating stars with numerous best speaker awards. Team Indonesia 2014 also had two non-Java debaters, Kevin Bonaparte from South Sulawesi and Alif Azadi from Aceh, who showed there should be no barriers for debaters in Indonesia to excel if they work hard to enhance their skills through rigorous training.

But this is not new. Non-Java debaters have been a vital part of the WSDC squads since Indonesia first joined the competition in 2001. The first Team Indonesia was even captained by a student from West Kalimantan. Time and again, non-Java high school debaters have proven they can compete with the rest. However, almost all of the non-Java WSDC debaters ended up debating for Java-based universities. This is the Indonesian debating world's brain drain issue that should start from making non-Java educational institutions attractive for these high school stars.

In the octofinal, Team Indonesia had to end their amazing journey in the hands of defending champions Australia, which later fell in the quarterfinal. Although WSDC 2014 has become the tournament of upsets with favourites exiting early, the semifinal debates had four English-as-first-language teams. The final will be between undefeated #1 South Africa, which is bent on becoming Africa's first WSDC champion, and #3 England, the three-time winner.

WSDC 2013: Key Results & Motions

Here are the key results from the 2013 World Schools Debating Championships, the most prestigious high school debating tournament this year. The numbers in the brackets after a team name follow this order: post-tournament position, place after 8 preliminary rounds, pre-tournament rank and group. WSDC uses a 3-on-3 format but each team can have up to 5 members and rotate their turns. Only speakers who debated at least 4 times in the prelims can enter the top individual list.

Champions: Australia (#1/#5/#1/A) -- 9th trophy

(Bo Seo, Tyrone Connell, Zoe Brown, Nicholas Salmon, James Stratton)

Finalists: Swaziland (#2/#2/#25/E) -- 1st appearance in GF

(Famele Mashwama, Oliver Mills, Wabantu Hlophe, Sandile Mndzebele, Lindelani Mabuza)

Best ESL Team: Peru (#9/#8/#36/F)

Best EFL Team: Indonesia (#22/#22/#27/E)

Top 10 Speakers

1. Bo Seo (Australia)
2. Fanele Mashwama (Swaziland)
3. Pavan Hedge (Hong Kong)
4. Darion Hotan (Singapore)
5. Thomas Simpson (New Zealand)
6. Zoe Brown (Australia)
7. James Lo (Hong Kong)
8. James Penn (New Zealand)
9. Aodhan Peelo (Ireland)
10. Tyrone Connell (Australia)

Best English-as-Second Language Speaker: Siddarth Srikanth (India)

Best English-as-Foreign Language Speaker: Carrisa Tehputri (Indonesia)

Motions:
R0. THW ban publication of opinion polls during election campaign
R1. THBT important decisions about children's health should be made by medical professionals
R2. THBT the media should be prevented from intruding the lives of public figures
R3. TH suppots greaters US military presence in East Asia
R4. THW allow prisoners choose death over life sentence
R5. THW cease the exploitation of resources in the Arctic region
R6. THW require government schools to teach religious studies
R7. TH supports sovereign debt default as a legitimate economic strategy for countries
R8. THW require university students to work in their country of origin for a number of years after graduation
OF. THW cut welfare payment for gamblers
QF. THBT social movements in democratic countries should drive social change through the courts rather than the legislature
SF. THBT the government should pay housewives and house husbands for their work
GF. THBT Turkey is better off outside the European Union

WSDC 2013: Australia Wins 9th Trophy, Ruins Swaziland Dream

Australia's Bo Seo makes his point amid Swaziland pressure
during the final of WSDC 2013 in Antalya, Turkey
(photo from WSDC Ltd by Cris Sanchez)

Australia, the most frequent winner of the World Schools Debating Championships, showed who is boss by crushing the dream run of Swaziland in the final of the tournament's 2013 edition. Team Australia (Bo Seo, Tyrone Connell, Zoe Brown, Nick Salmon, James Stratton), gave their country its ninth trophy after a 9-0 unanimous victory against Team Swaziland (Fanele Mashwama, Oliver Mills, Sandile Mndzebele, Lindelani Mabuza, Wabantu Hlope) which only joined WSDC last year. No other country has won more than 4 championships.

Australia's captain Bo Seo, who is of Korean descent, also took home the overall best speaker in his third WSDC. Swaziland's Fanele Mashwama, who was also part of the first-entry 2012 team, came second. Both teams lost one match in the preliminaries. Australia bowed to Canada in the last prelim while Swaziland lost to Singapore in the first round. Swaziland, which has picked up fans worldwide after their R3 unanimous win over reigning champion Scotland, took revenge against Singapore in the more crucial semifinal.

This year's WSDC was held in the tourist city Antalya in Turkey. The next will take place in Bangkok, Thailand. Fellow Southeast Asian country Singapore has won the bid to host WSDC 2015, keeping the tournament in the East as the West is going through economic recession.

WSDC 2013: Swaziland Fairy Tale Continues with Final vs Oz

Antalya - the host city of WSDC 2013

 African state Swaziland proved fairy tales can come true in the world of debating. It only got its first taste of the World Schools Debating Championships last year, losing 4 of  8 mandatory debates, but it is now in the grand final of the 2013 edition.

Team Swaziland (Oliver Mills, Fanele Mashwama, Wabantu Hlophe, Sandile Mndzebele, Lindelani Mabuza) reached #2 on the preliminary tab this year after beating 7 opponents, including titleholder Scotland, and losing only to 2011 champion Singapore. In the semifinal, they met again and it was the cinderella team that emerged victorious.

In the final, they will square off with #5 Australia (Bo Seo, Tyrone Connell, Zoe Brown, Nick Salmon, James Stratton) over the motion "THBT Turkey will be better off outside the European Union". Australia, which will propose in the last debate, has won WSDC 8 times. The most any other country can get is 4. However, the Land Down Under's last title was in 2006.

WSDC 2012: Key Results and Motions

The 2012 World Schools Debating Championships ended yesterday in Cape Town with Scotland winning the final debate and Teoh Ten Jie from Singapore collecting his second best speaker award. He did not only top the individual tab last year but also led his team triumph and become the first champion from Asia.



Here are the key results from the world's most prestigious high school debating tournament. The numbers in the brackets after a team follow this order: post-tournament position, place after 8 preliminary rounds, pre-tournament rank and group. WSDC uses a 3-on-3 format but each team can have up to 5 members and rotate their turns. Only speakers who debated at least 4 times in the prelims can enter the top individual list.


Champions: Scotland #1/#5/#15/C -- 4th trophy

(Alfie Hinchliffe, Charlie Thomas, Ruth Cameron, April Shepherd, Josh Richards)

WSDC 2012 Champions - Team Scotland (Caledonian Mercury)

Finalists: Wales #2/#7/#10/B) -- 1st appearance in GF

(Amy Jones, David Wigley, Piers Digby, Helen Price)

Best New Nation: Swaziland (#28/28/#47/H)

Best ESL Team: Greece (#13/#12/#5/A)

Best EFL Team: Lithuania (#12/#11/#41/G)

Top 10 Speakers

1. Teoh Ren Jie (Singapore) -- back-to-back title
2. Sam Collier (England)
3. Alfie Hinchliffe (Scotland)
4. Michael Maklin (South Africa)
5. Natasha Rachman (England)
6. Akhsay Karia (England)
7. Ned Lis-Clarke (Australia)
8. Ben Goldstein (England)
9. Darion Hotan (Singapore)
10. Bo Seo (Australia)

Motions
R1. THW ban alcohol
R2. THBT newly democratised Arab states should not allow religious parties to participate in elections
R3. THW allow single parents in prison to raise children behind bars
R4. THBT developing nations should place limits on internal rural-urban migration
R5. THBT police should use racial profiling to fight crime
R6. THBT the feminist movement should seek a ban on pornography
R7. TH supports child labour in the developing world
R8. THBT states should enshrine legally actionable socio-economic rights
OF. THBT the government should create special schools that teach in endangered indigenous languages
QF. THBT gay rights organizations should out gay public figures
SF. TH supports 100% tax on all inherited wealth
GF. TH regrets South Africa's decision to use the Truth and Reconciliation Commission rather than prosecuting the perpetrators of crimes committed under Apartheid

Adjudication Test: THW make voting compulsory
Reserve: THBT government-run broacsting stations should give airtime to racist political parties (used in the delayed India v Mexico debate)

WSDC 2012: Break List

Reigning champion #6/A Singapore broke first into the knockouts of the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships after winning all 8 preliminaries and only dropping one judge. Host #9/B South Africa and two-time winner #3/A New Zealand also entered the elimination stage without a loss. The darkhorses are #26/E Malaysia and #41/G Lithuania who collected 6 VP after taking the scalps of higher ranking teams. In R1, Malaysia provided the tournament's first shock with a win against 8-time champion and last year's finalist #2/A Australia. The two teams will meet again in the octofinal. The complete list after 8 rounds is as follows (Country, VP, Judges, Pre-Tourney Rank): 

1. Singapore (8-23) #6/A
2. South Africa (8-21) #9/B
3. New Zealand (8-21) #3/A
4. Australia (7-20) #2/A
5. Scotland (7-19) #15/C
6. England (6-20) #1/A
7. Wales (6-18) #10/B
8. Philippines (6-18) #17/C
9. Canada (6-17) #4/A
10. India (6-17) #18/C
11. Lithuania (6-17) #41/G
12. Greece (6-16) #5/A
13. Malaysia (6-15) #26/E
14. Hong Kong (5-16) #14/C
15. Ireland (5-16) #12/B
16. Korea (5-15) #8/B

Note: All A teams broke. #7/B Netherlands, which won all their debates last year, ended at #24 after losing 4 times in preliminaries. #11/B Pakistan missed the break on speaker points.

WSDC 2012: Indonesia Bags First Point, Malaysia Downs Australia

#29/E Indonesia today scored its first win in the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships after unanimously beating #48/H Zimbabwe in R2. All judges thought Indonesia successfully knocked down the motion "This House Believes That Newly Democratised Arab Nations Should Not Allow Religious Parties to Participate in Elections". In the first round, Indonesia lost to reigning champions #6/A Singapore in a debate in which our team had to propose a ban on alcohol. The 2012 team consists of Cheryl Nazik Cosslett (SMA 1 Bogor), twins Revian and Revaldi Wirabuana (SMA 4 Denpasar) and Alif Satria (SMA 8 Yogyakarta).

The highlight of the competition was #26/E Malaysia's success defeating 8-time champion #2/A Australia in the opener on a 2-1 decision. In the second debate, Australia again lost a judge in the slim victory against #20/D Mexico. At the end of Debate Day 1, only Singapore, #1/A England and #8/B South Korea can boast the perfect scoreline of 2 wins and 6 judge points.

Team Indonesia tomorrow will face #38/G Mongolia in the impromptu R3 and must defend the motion "This House Believes That Developing Nations Should Place Limits on Internal Rural-Urban Migration" against South Korea.  

WSDC 2011: Key Results

The 2011 World Schools Debating Championships ended yesterday in Dundee with no top awards going to the old power - countries that won past WSDCs, which interestingly are all predominantly Anglo-Saxon. Indeed, Singapore, an Asian city-state that was once a British outpost, had reached the grandfinals and taken the best speaker award home before. But the 2011 success in double scooping the top team and individual prizes is still an important milestone for Asian debating.

While WSDC postings on this blog come from various sources, a special appreciation should go to Paul Lau, whose blog is a superb fountain of information on high school debating. 

Here are the key results from the world's most prestigious high school debating tournament. The numbers in the brackets after a team follow this order:  post-tournament rank, rank after 8 preliminaries, pre-tournament seed and level. WSDC uses a 3-on-3 format but each team can have up to 5 members and rotate their turns. Only speakers who debated at least 4 times in the preliminaries can enter the top individual lists.

Champions: Singapore (#1/#15/#5/A) -- first champion from Asia
(Teoh Ren Jie, Ashish Kumar, Benjamin Mak, Adil Hakeem, Liki Ng)
Finalists: Australia (#2/#4/#2/A)
(Bo Seo,  Tyrone Connell, Emma Johnstone, Ned Lis-Clarke, Beatrice Paull)

Best New Nation: Barbados (#41/#41/#46/F)
Best ESL Team: South Korea (#12/#6/#11/B)
Best EFL Team: Netherlands (#10/#3/#14/C)

Best Speaker: Teoh Ren Jie (Singapore) 74.7
Best ESL Speaker: Chun Ye Eun (South Korea) 72.9
Best EFL Speaker: Kim Chan Keun (South Korea) 73

((ESL stands for English-as-Second-Language, supposedly a level higher than EFL, which means English-as-Foreign-Language. The distinction between the two is pre-set but may change from year to year. It is also individually based, enabling one team to have multiple levels of speakers. Length of time in an English-speaking country and use of English in a debater's school are key components in setting the distinction. All members of an EFL team must be EFL speakers. All members of an ESL team must be ESL or EFL speakers. An EFL team/speaker cannot vie for the ESL award eventhough their scores are higher than any ESL team/speaker. In WSDC 2011, EFL winners scored higher than ESL counterparts))

Indonesia (#37/#37/#27/E)
W-L: 2 wins, 6 losses; Judges: 8; Score: 5832.5
Best Speaker: Nudzran Yusya (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh) 69 -- #20EFL

WSDC 2011: Trophy Goes to Singapore, First Champ from Asia

#15 Singapore became the first Asian winner of the World Schools Debating Championships after beating #4 Australia on a 7-2 decision in the finals of the 2011 edition in Dundee, Scotland. Debaters from the tiny, modern city-state, where one party has ruled alone since its conception, successfully knocked down the motion "This House Believes That Autocracy is Doomed in the Age of Facebook".

The road to glory was no cakewalk. Team Singapore, which reached the finals in 2003 and 2007, barely broke into the knockouts this year. They lost 3 of their 8 preliminary rounds, bowing to New Zealand, Pakistan and the Netherlands, an EFL team. Singapore met New Zealand again in the octofinals where they scraped a close 3-2 win. The revenge was the turning point as they progressed to the throne with more convincing victories.

This year Singapore fielded an experienced team. All 5 members, including WSDC 2011 best speaker Teoh Ren Jie, had debated in past editions. Four debaters came from Raffles Junior College - Ashish Kumar, Benjamin Mak, Adil Hakeem, and captain Teoh, who competed in 2010 and 2009 - while the fifth member was Li Ki Ng from Hwa Chong Institute.

The next WSDC will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from January 17 to 27, 2012 - five months away. The close timing may force countries to have teams filled with returning members. It is unclear whether that will apply for Indonesia after the 2011 team ended their journey in Dundee at #37 with a 2-6 record. Indonesia's one consolation was Nudzran Yusya from SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh slipped into the Top 20 EFL speaker list.

WSDC 2011: Australia v Singapore in Final Debate

#4 Australia and #15 Singapore, two countries that border Indonesia, will battle it out in the grandfinal of the 2011 Worlds Schools Debating Championships in Dundee tomorrow. Australia will propose the motion "This House Believes That Autocracy is Doomed in the Age of Facebook" as revolutions in the Arab world show how citizens have been using social media in building resistance against their governments.

The finalists are perrenial favourites in WSDC. Australian teams have won 8 times, including in the 2003 final against Singapore. However, this year's tournament has been far from predictable. Australia lost a preliminary round against South Africa while Singapore felt defeat 3 times, including in the hands of an EFL nation - the Netherlands.

Darkhorses clearly stole the attention with strong performances in the prelims but their shine quickly faded like comets after the break. The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and South Korea, countries where English is not the main language, broke third, fifth and sixth, with impressive scorelines, into the octofinals where they all fizzled. In fact, all teams in the quarterfinals came from current or former parts of the British empire.

Team Indonesia missed the break after losing 6 out of 8 prelims and finishing at #37, a record low. Click the WSDC button on the navigation bar for details and stats of Indonesia's participation on the most prestigious high school debate competition on the planet.

WSDC 2011: Indonesia Misses Break, Ends at #37

Indonesia was seeded at #27 before the 2011 World Schools Debating Championships in Dundee but ended at #37 out of 48 participating countries after 8 mandatory rounds. Only the top 16 can proceed to the next round.

Team Indonesia this year won 2 debates, collected 8 judge points, and lost 6 matches, half of them unanimously. While Indonesia had a 2-6 record in 3 past tournaments since it first competed in WSDC in 2001, its lowest rank was at #34 in 2008. Indonesia has broken twice in WSDC, in 2003 and 2004, each with a 5-3 record.

The details of the matches in the past week are as follows:

R1 THW Offer Dictators Immunity in Return of Leaving Power
Opp vs Australia (#2/A) -- 0-3

R2 THW Allow the Distribution of Free Music on the Internet
Prop vs Namibia (#44/H) -- 1-2

R3 THBT Universal Primary Education is a Misallocation of Resources for the Developing World
Prop vs Nigeria (#41/G) -- 2-1

R4 THW Make Voting in National Elections Mandatory
Opp vs Pakistan (#9/B) -- 0-3

R5 THW Legalize the Sale of Human Organs
Prop vs Sweden (#32/F) -- 3-0

R6 THW Stop Sending Humans into Space
Opp vs Israel (#13/C) -- 1-2

R7 THBT Women Can Only Achieve Equality under a Secular System of Government
Opp vs India (#21/D) -- 0-3

R8 THW Penalize Sporting Teams for the Behavious of Their Fans
Prop vs USA (#28/E) -- 1-2

Debaters: Ruth Gracia Nainggolan (SMA 81 Jakarta), Nudzran Yusya (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), Margreta Kailla Adenta (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan) and Wisnu Aryo Setio (SMA 5 Bandung).
Coaches: Eldhianto Jusuf (Universitas Gadjah Mada) and Ahmad Naufal Dai (Universitas Indonesia)

WSDC 2011: Indonesia Still Hunts for a Win

#27 Indonesia had an unfortunate start at the 2011 World Schools Debating Championships in Dundee today. The first debate against #2 Australia saw all 3 judges favouring the 8-time champion and the second one against #44 Namibia ended with a 2-1 split decision for the opposition.

Indonesia opposed the motion "This House Would Offer Dictators Immunity in Return for Leaving Power" in the opener and proposed to allow free distribution of music on the Internet in the impromptu Round 2. This year's team consist of Ruth Gracia Nainggolan (SMA 81 Jakarta), Nudzran Yusya (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), Wisnu Aryo Setio (SMA 5 Bandung) and Margreta Kailla Adenta (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan).

Indonesia is considered as an E class participant. Each team in WSDC is designed to face 8 opponents in the first stage drawn from 8 different classes. Australia is an A team while Namibia comes from the H class. The WSDC preliminaries are pre-determined with 4 rounds using prepared motions while the other 4 are impromptu debates. Only the top 16 can proceed into the knockouts.


Indonesia has only broken twice, in 2003 and 2004, since its first WSDC participation in 2001, each with a 5-3 record. Click the WSDC button on the navigation bar for history.