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: Unbeaten NZ Top on Tab, Swaziland Second

New Zealand broke first from the preliminaries of the 2013 World Schools Debating Championships after winning all of their 8 debates, the only team that could wrap up the mandatory stage without a loss. Usually, there are multiple teams that can reach this feat. That is the least from this year's peculiarities that include the failure of reigining champion Scotland and last year's finalist Wales to break as both only could bag 4 wins, like Indonesia.

But the biggest surprise is the team that came second on the preliminary tab. It was Swaziland, a tiny African state that only joined WSDC last year. They had a 7-1 scoreline and better overall speaker scores than others with that tally, including Singapore, the only team that could beat them so far. Another quirk from this year's break is no team with 5 wins that could slip into the top 16. Half of the octofinalists broke with 7 wins while 7 in the mix had 6 points. Here is the break list:

1. New Zealand -- 8 points, 21 judges
2. Swaziland -- 7 points, 21 judges
3. Singapore -- 7 points, 21 judges
4. South Africa -- 7 points, 21 judges
5. Australia -- 7 points, 20 judges
6. England -- 7 points, 20 judges
7. Mexico -- 7 points, 20 judges
8. Peru -- 7 points, 19 judges
9. Ireland -- 7 points, 19 judges
10. India -- 6 points, 19 judges
11. Hong Kong -- 6 points, 18 judges
12. Netherlands -- 6 points, 16 judges
13. United Arab Emirates -- 6 points, 16 judges
14. Slovenia -- 6 points, 16 judges
15. Greece -- 6 points, 16 judges
16. Canada -- 6 points, 14 judges

WSDC 2012: Philippines v Scotland; Wales v England in SF

#17/C Philippines killed another giant on their road to the semifinals of the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships. After beating 2010 champions #4/A Canada in the octos, the Filipinos dashed #6/A Singapore's dream of defending their title. Singapore only lost a judge after 9 debates but the Philippines convinced all 5 judges on the panel to go their way. Their next opponent will be #15/C Scotland that beat #2/A Australia also with unanimous decision. 

The other semifinal will be between #10/B Wales and #6/A England who both got through on 3-2 decisions. All semifinalists suffered losses in the preliminaries.  England bowed to Australia and South Africa. Wales fell in debates against New Zealand and South Africa. The Philippines lost to the Netherlands and England. Scotland's only defeat was to South Korea.  The motion for the quarterfinals was "This House Believes That Gay Rights Organisations Should Out Gay Public Figures.

WSDC 2012: Two Asian Teams Win OF, Face Off in QF

Two Asian teams - #6/A Singapore and #17/C Philippines - came out victorious in the octofinals of the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships but must face each other in the quarterfinals tomorrow. The Filipinos pulled off an upset with a win against #4/A Canada, the 2010 champions. Last year's winner Singapore is hot favourite with no defeat in the preliminaries and 26 out of 27 possible judge points so far. The only other team with a no-loss record is #3/A New Zealand, which will face #1/A England. The motion in the first elimination debate was "This House Believes That Government Should Create Special Schools that Teach in Endangered Indigenous Languages". The QF match-ups are as follows:

1. Singapore (#6/A) v 8. Philippines (#17/C)
4. Australia (#2/A) v 5. Scotland (#15/C)
3. New Zealand (#3/A) v 6. England (#1/A)
7. Wales (#10/B) v 15. Ireland (#12/B)

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 Gets Unique Draw

Indonesia enters the 2012 World Schools Debating Championships, which will start today in the South African city of Cape Town, with an uniquely favourable draw. While Team Indonesia will face reigning champion Singapore in the first round, it will not meet any country where English is the main native language for the subsequent 7 rounds. 

Furthermore, since its first participation in 2001, Indonesia had always met at least one country with Anglo-Saxon roots. Not even one this year. The other opponents are Zimbabwe, Mongolia, South Korea, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Israel and Botswana.

Four preliminaries have prepared motions and the other half are impromptu. All teams debate 8 different teams in the prelims, one from each of the 8 rank-based groupings. Indonesia is in the E grouping (ranks 25-30) and ranks #29 out of 48 contestants. The WSDC groupings are calculated based on victories and judge votes in the past 3 championships.

Team Indonesia 2012 consists of twins Revian Wirabuana and Revaldi Wirabuana from SMA 4 Denpasar, second-grader Cheryl Nazik Cosslett from SMA 1 Bogor and Alif Satria from SMA 8 Yogyakarta. There is no returning member in this team, one aspect that will be common in other contingents because the 2011 edition was only five months ago. Some nations like favourites New Zealand are even sending the same exact team. Most members of Team Indonesia 2011 are already in college.

Since its WSDC entry, Indonesia has broken twice into the octofinals in 2003 and 2004. The highest rank is #11 in 2003 but the team which collected the most judge votes was the one who went to WSDC 2010 in Qatar. Unfortunately, the latter did not break. Only the top 16 teams can break into the knockouts.

The draw, speaking position and schedule of Team Indonesia 2012's debates are as follows:     

19 January 2012 @ The Settlers High School

R1 Prop vs #6/A Singapore - Impromptu

R2 Opp vs #48/H Zimbabwe

THBT newly democratised Arab states should not allow religious parties to participate in elections

20 January 2012 @ Rhenish Girls High School

R3 Opp vs #38/G Mongolia - Impromptu 

R4 Prop vs #8/B South Korea

THBT developing nations should place limits on internal rural-urban migration

22 January 2012 @ University of Cape Town

R5 Opp vs #33/F Germany - Impromptu

R6 Prop vs #13/C United Arab Emirates

THBT the feminist movement should seek a ban on pornography

23 January 2012 @ Heideveld Township

R7 Prop vs #19/D Israel - Impromptu

R8 Opp vs #25/E Botswana 

THBT states should enshrine legally actionable socio-economic rights

WSDC 2011: Indonesia Unanimously Defeats Sweden

#27 Indonesia won the votes of all three judges in the fifth round of the 2011 World Schools Debating Championships against #32 Sweden. Team Indonesia successfully defended the motion "This House Would Legalize the Sale of Human Organs", keeping the chance to advance into the knockouts alive. They stand at 2-3 at the moment with 3 more debates to go.

Usually, only teams with at least 5 victories out of 8 rounds have the possibility to reach the top 16. Indonesia has broken twice in WSDC, in 2003 and 2004, each with a 5-3 record. Last year's team matched that scoreline but did not make the cut on judge points. Ruth Gracia Nainggolan (SMA 81 Jakarta), Nudzran Yusya (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), Magreta Kailla Adenta (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan) and Wisnu Aryo Setio (SMA 5 Bandung) are representing Indonesia this year. While only 3 debaters can be fielded in a match, all members of the squad can contribute in case building.

Only #4 New Zealand have the perfect record of 5 VP and 15 judge points after 5 rounds of debates in Dundee. Darkhorse #13 Netherlands, an EFL team, are among the 5 teams with 5 VP so far. 

WSDC 2011: Indonesia at 1-3 After 4 Preliminary Rounds

At the half way mark of the preliminaries, #27 Indonesia's chance to advance into the knockouts of the 2011 World Schools Debating Championships is slim. Today's Round 4 impromptu debate on mandatory voting against #9 Pakistan ended with an unanimous decision for the opponent, leaving Indonesia at 1-3 and 3 judge points.

Usually, only teams with at least 5 victories out of 8 rounds have the possibility to reach the top 16. This means Team Indonesia must win all of the remaining 4 rounds to keep the hope alive. Indonesia has broken twice in WSDC, in 2003 and 2004, each with a 5-3 record. Last year's team matched that scoreline but did not make the cut on low judge points.

#32 Sweden and #13 Israel are the R5 and R6 opponents on Sunday while Team Indonesia will face #21 India and #28 United States on the final day of prelims. This year's team consist of Ruth Gracia Nainggolan (SMA 81 Jakarta), Nudzran Yusya (SMA Modal Bangsa Aceh), Magreta Kailla Adenta (SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan) and Wisnu Aryo Setio (SMA 5 Bandung).

Three teams so far still have the perfect record of 4 VP and 12 judge points in WSDC 2011 - #4 New Zealand, which won the 2009 tournament, and darkhorses #11 South Korea and #12 Wales.