WUDC 2013: Cinderella Teams Slay Favourites in QF

It wouldn't be Worlds if it had no surprises. In one of the quarterfinals, two lower-ranked teams sent favourites out of the 2013 World Universities Debating Championships. #48 Monash University B (James Beavis & Nita Rao), the last team to qualify into the knockouts, and #24 University of Otago A (Alec Dawson & Kieran Bunn), which come from a school that has never broken in WUDC before, defeated #1 University of London Union A (Pam Cohn & Catherine Murphy) and #8 Monash A (Chris Bisset & Madeline Schultz), who all have broken more than once.

Monash B's success would never be possible if the WUDC council had not expanded the break list from 32 to 48 at the start of the Berlin event. They are now the only under-32 team still standing at the moment. Less surprisingly, powerhouse University of Sydney will have 2 teams in the semifinals, both the highest ranked in their respective matches, opening the possibility of taking half of the spots in the final. A half-Sydney final has been done a few times before; last in 2001.

One of the teams that Sydney B eliminated was #15 International Islamic University, the last Asian team in the open competition. Besides IIU, National University of Singapore also broke into the main out rounds but their journey ended in the octofinal.

Here are the semifinal match ups:

SF 1: #5 Sydney A vs #12 St. Andrews A vs #24 Otago A vs #48 Monash B
SF 2: #2 Sydney B vs #6 Auckland B vs #10 Melbourne A vs #19 Oxford B

WUPID 2011: Breaking Teams & Prelim Motions

The 2011 World Universities Peace Invitational Debate organizers announced today the 16 teams that can proceed into the knockouts. Universitas Indonesia and Binus International teams competed in this tournament, which funds the world's top debating universities to come to Malaysia every year, but they failed to break. Bipeds A (Astrio Feligent & Christian Leonardo) came very close with 9 VPs, the same amount of points that #10-16 had. Those who did advance are as follows:

1. University of Oxford A
2. Victoria University of Wellington A
3. University of New South Wales A
4. Yale University A
5. Ateneo de Manila University B
6. Ateneo de Manila University A
7. Monash University A
8. University of Cambridge A
9. Monash University B
10. University of Queensland A
11. Cornell University A
12. University of Melbourne B
13. Nanyang Technological University B
14. National University of Singapore A
15. University of Melbourne A
16. Universiti Teknologi Mara B

The motions in the preliminaries:
R1. THW abolish permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council
R2. With the benefit of hindsight, TH regrets awarding President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize
R3. THBT Asia should welcome Chinese military expansion
R4. THBT Malaysia should embrace the right to peaceful assembly
R5. THBT the peaceful resolution of conflicts in South America must include the international legalization of cocaine

Indonesia's Australs Fate Depends on Silent Rounds

Three Indonesian teams need substantial wins in the last 2 rounds of the 2011 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships to advance into the double-octofinals or the ESL knockouts. However, R7 and R8 are silent rounds, forcing debaters to wait until the break announcement this evening for the results.

After 6 rounds, Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin) and Binus International 1 (Astrio Feligent, Christian Leonardo, Invi Atmanegara) both are at 3-3 after competing against the best in the tournament. Only teams with 5VP have clear chances to sail through into the main elimination rounds. The best 8 ESL teams are eligible to compete in a separate contest. A 4-4 record may be enough but the threshold may be higher due to large participation from Northeast Asia this year.

UI and Bipeds teams had colorful runs. They met in R1 with the latter coming out triumphant. In subsequent rounds, Bipeds knocked down Asian giant Nanyang Technological University and University of Technology Sydney but lost to Australian powerhouses Melbourne and Sydney. UI's two other defeats were in the hands of last year's champion Victoria University and runner-up Auckland University, both from New Zealand. UI defeated Australia's Macquarie University and Korean colleges, Underwood and Chung Ang.

Another Indonesian team from Institut Teknologi Bandung (Gladys Brigita, Diedra Putri, Aryani) entered R7 with 2 wins. UI adjudicator Ignes Pricillia has chaired 5 out of 6 rounds while ITB judge Dito Krista was chair in R6.