WUDC 2014: Victorious Harvard Debaters End US Drought, Aussie Reign

#4 Harvard University A (Josh Zoffer & Ben Sprung-Keyser) became the first American team for more than a decade or even two, depending on how one sees it, to triumph in the most prestigious debate tournament on the planet. Their victory in the 2014 World Universities Debating Championships in Chennai ended a long drought for the United States since New York University Law School won it in 2002.

Interestingly, both of the NYU Law speakers were students from the United Kingdom. The last true American pair to win WUDC also came from Harvard but they did it in 1993 when the format was 2-on-2, not the 4-team British Parliamentary style that is currently used.   

Harvard A (Ben Sprung-Keyser/Josh Zoffer)

In the recent final, Harvard acted as the Opening Government and proposed the motion "This House Believes That India Should Adopt Aggressive Free Market Policies" in front of an audience that included top government officials of India's Tamil Nadu state. Their stance arguing that India can only rise to become a world economic power if they radically change their protectionist policies stood until the end.

The victory was an upset because many had placed their bets on Closing Opposition #1 University of Sydney B (Chris Bisset & Elle Jones) who set a new record on points collected in the preliminary round with a whopping 26 from 8 wins and a second place finish. The other finalists were  #10 University of Cambridge B (Ben Adams & Kitty Parker-Brooks) and #27 University of Glasgow (John McKee/Duncan Crowe).

Harvard also stopped a four-year Australian reign. A Sydney team won it in 2010 and then their countrymen from Monash University secured the title for three straight years. The Australian strength was apparent on the speaker tab. The top four all come from Australia with Sydney's Elle Jones as the number one debater in WUDC 2014.

WUDC 2014: Sydney Advance With Best Score Ever (Open Break)

University of Sydney B (Elle Jones & Chris Bisset) did not only break first into the knockouts of the 2014 World Universities Debating Championships. With 26 points after winning 8 out of 9 preliminary rounds and coming second in only one debate, they became the first team in the history of WUDC to score that high. Previous record holder University of Oxford A (Lewis Iwu & Samir Deger-Sen) hauled 25 points in WUDC 2008 Bangkok, which they eventually won.   

While the rest had thin margins between them, Sydney B were four points clear from their closest rival #2 University of Cambridge A (Ashish Kumar & Thomas Simpson). All teams that secured 18 points or more advanced along with 8 pairs that bagged 17. Among the 48 qualified teams, there are 3 from Asia -- #26 Ateneo de Manila University A (Allan Cabrera & Paulina Robles), #38 Indian Institute of Technology Bombay B (Souradip Sen & Ritvik Chauhan) and #47 International Islamic University A (Syed Saddiq & Mubarrat Wassey).

The top 16 teams go straight to the octofinals while #17-48 must battle it out in the pre-octos to fill up the remaining 16 slots. The main break list is as follows:

1. University of Sydney B (AUS) - 26
2. University of Cambridge A (ENG) - 22
3. Monash University A (AUS) - 21
4. Harvard University A (USA) - 21
5. McGill University A (CAN) - 21
6. University of Canterbury A (NZL) - 21
7. University of Cape Town B (SAF) - 21
8. University of Melbourne A (AUS) - 20
9. University of Otago A (NZL) - 20
10. University of Cambridge B (ENG) - 20
11. Australian National University B (AUS) - 20
12. London School of Economics B (ENG) - 20
13. University of Sydney A (AUS) - 19
14. University of St. Andrews A (SCO) - 19
15. University of Auckland A (NZL) - 19
16. Imperial College (ENG) - 19
17. Monash University B (AUS) - 19
18. University of Oxford B (ENG) - 19
19. Cornell University B (USA) - 19
20. University of Birmingham A (ENG) - 19
21. Bates College A (USA) - 19
22. University of New South Wales B (AUS) - 19
23. University of Oxford C (ENG) - 19
24. Yale University A (ENG) - 18
25. Victoria University of Wellington A (NZL) -18
26. Ateneo de Manila University A (PHL) - 18
27. University of Glasgow A (SCO) - 18
28. Monash University C (AUS) - 18
29. University of Cambridge C (ENG) - 18
30. Yale University B (USA) - 18
31. Stanford University A (USA) - 18
32. BPP University A (ENG) - 18
33. University of Melbourne B (AUS) - 18
34. University of Melbourne C (AUS) - 18
35. Western University A (CAN) - 18
36. University of Queensland B (AUS) - 18
37. University of New South Wales A (AUS) - 18
38. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay B (IND) - 18
39. Bates College B (USA) - 18
40. University of Belgrade A (SRB) - 18
41. Hart House, University of Toronto A (CAN) - 17
42. University of Oxford A (ENG) - 17
43. University of Western Australia A (AUS) - 17
44. University of Cape Town A (SAF) - 17
45. University of Sydney C (AUS) - 17
46. University of Queensland A (AUS) - 17
47. International Islamic University A (MAL) - 17
48. University of Otago B (NZL) - 17

EUDC 2013: Key Results & Motions

Champions: #2 University of Cambridge A (Anser Aftab & Ashish Kumar) 
Finalists: #1 Trinity College Dublin A (Sally Rooney & Michael Barton), #8 University of Edinburgh A (Marlena Valles & David McCreath), #10 University of Oxford A (Matthew Handley & Natasha Rachman)
Best Speaker: Sally Rooney (Trinity College Dublin A)
ESL Champions: University of Lund A (Emilia Carlqvist & Peer Kluessendorf)
Best ESL Speaker: Viktor Prija (University of Belgrade A)

Motions
Open GF | THW give more votes to citizens according to their performance on a current affairs test
Open SF | TH regrets that the Western media has demonized Islamic terrorists, rather than portraying them as criminals with legitimate political grievances
Open QF |  THBT African countries should adopt English as the principal language of instruction in schools
ESL GF | THBT the state should not fund works of art that average citizens would not recognize as having artistic merit
ESL SF | THBT environmentalists should launch a campaign of sabotage and property destruction aimed at major polluting companies
ESL QF | THBT men should consistently call out and correct chauvinistic comments made by friends and co-workers
R9 | THW provide welfare in the form of basic goods and services rather than cash payments
R8 | THBT Barack Obama should not have granted legal immunity to officials who ordered the use of torture
R7 | THBT it is in China's strategic interest to cease all non-humanitarian assistance to North Korea until it verifiably ends its nuclear programme
R6 | TH applauds the rise of songs by female pop artists that glorify assertive  female sexuality
R5 | THBT Israel should allow members of the Jewish diaspora to vote in its elections
R4 | THW permit government agencies to conduct automated surveillance without court authorization
R3 | TH, as the Muslim Brotherhood, would sincerely offer to cease resistance, participate in elections, and respect a liberal constitution
R2 | THW require international development aid budgets to be approved by popular referanda
R1 | THW ban video games in which the player engages in brutal and immoral violence in a realistic setting

Cambridge Debaters from Asia Win Europe's Top Tournament

For the first time in history, a team entirely made up of debaters from Asia won the European Universities Debating Championship. Both represented their respective countries in previous  World Schools Debating Championships. Anser Aftab, who debated for Pakistan in WSDC 2007, and Ashish Kumar, who was part of the triumphant Singapore squad in WSDC 2011, entered EUDC 2013 as University of Cambridge A and left with the trophy. Asian debaters had won EUDC before but with European partners.

#2 Cambridge A in the final yesterday defeated #1 Trinity College Dublin A (Sally Rooney & Michael Barton), #8 University of Edinburgh A (Marlena Vallas & David McCreath) and #10 University of Oxford A (Matthew Handley & Natasha Rachman). In the ESL division, University of Lund became the first Swedish team to win that category. 

WUDC 2014: No More "First Come, First Served" Rego, History Affects Slots

Registration for the 2014 World Universities Debating Championships in Chennai will only open for 24 hours from May 20, 2013 at 1000 GMT (1700 WIB) but the allocation won't use the normal "first come, first served" policy. This is good news for Indonesia which has a slow Internet connection. Many from across the globe complained the previous way gave advantage to those with faster services like Western countries and Japan.

The participation and breaking history of institutions at 3 past WUDC competitions in any category will determine the order for the first ever WUDC in India. This is not only good news for powerhouses like Monash and Oxford but also an advantage for Indonesian schools that have broken into the EFL or ESL eliminations in the past 3 WUDCs. Click here to open the organiser's letter.

Important registration dates

April 29 -- Organisers will post list of institutions that have attended any of the last 3 WUDCs and the number of teams those institutions have broken, in any category, during those competitions.
May 17 -- Deadline for those who think the list has incorrect information
May 20 (1700 WIB) -- Registration opens
May 21 (1700 WIB) -- Registration closes
June 1 -- Deadline for initial registration result. May be sooner.
July 8 -- Deadline for deposit payment for teams on the main list.
August 5 -- Deadline for deposit payment for teams promoted from the waiting list.
September 5 -- Deadline for full payment
September 30 -- Deadline for full payment for teams who are eligible to replace withdrawals

Priority List

From May 20, each institution can register to up to 3 teams. The organisers will initially take in 354 teams. Then, they will allow 30 scholarship teams to enter and if resources permit, the total number may rise to 400. Institutions without any presence in the previous 3 WUDCs can only register 1 team. The significant change comes after this. Organisers will create a "Registration Priority List" with the following rules

• Institutions first will be grouped according to their average number of breaking teams
• The groups will be listed from largest to smallest average number 
• Then, institutions with the same average will be ordered randomly by a number generator

Allocation Steps

Step 1 - Each registered institution will be allocated a team
Step 2 - A second team will be allocated to all requesting institutions with a record of at least 1 break starting from the highest on the priority list.
Step 3 - A third team will be allocated to all requesting institutions with a breaking average of 1.5 or more during the past 3 years.
Step 4 - A second team will be allocated to all remaining requesting institutions
Step 5 - A third team will be allocated to all remaining requesting institutions
((The org comm seems to think there would still be slots after Step 5))

Waiting List

Theoretically, the allocation for the main list should initially end with the 354th team on the priority list and the waiting list begins from the 355th team. This can change if there are remaining slots on the main list after Step 5. Any institution with outstanding team requests then will be placed on the waiting list following the same steps outlined above. Eventhough the rules first say institutions that have not attended any of the past 3 WUDCs would not get more than 1 slot, they may request extra teams. Of course, they will be placed at the bottom of the waiting list. Although the likeliness is very thin, they could get their request granted if space permits.

Indonesia's 3-Year Break History (priority for 2nd slot)

Berlin 2013: Universitas Gadjah Mada (1 EFL), Universitas Atma Jaya (1 EFL)
Manila 2012: Universitas Indonesia (1 EFL), Sekolah Tinggi Akuntansi Negara (1 EFL)
Botswana 2011: Universitas Indonesia (1 ESL, 1 EFL), Universitas Gadjah Mada (1 EFL)

WUDC 2013: Monash Wins Again, Sets Records

Maritim Hotel Berlin - the venue of the WUDC 2013 finals

Monash reign continues in the World Universities Debating Championships. In an all-Oceania final at WUDC 2013, #48 Monash University B (James Beavis & Nita Rao) defeated #2 University of Sydney B (Paul Karp & Dominic Bowes), #6 University of Auckland A (Stephanie Thompson & Ben Milsom) and  #24 University of Otago A (Alec Dawson & Kieran Bunn).

This is Monash's third victory in a row. No other institution has done this before. It is also its fifth WUDC title, matching the record held by University of Sydney and University of Glasgow. The best speaker award also went to Melbourne-based Monash through Chris Bisset (Monash A) who shared the title with Pam Cohn (University of London Union A). Both speakers fell in the quarterfinals at the hands of Monash B.  

But what makes this Monash B triumph extra sweet is they made history as the first under-32 team that won WUDC. That would have been impossible had the council voted against the break expansion from 32 teams to 48. The landmark decision to expand the break list paved the way for a strong team with high speaker scores to compensate points dropped during the preliminary stage. #48 Monash B might have been last to break and only gathered 17 points from 9 rounds but they were the only team with that many points that broke, which means they had the highest speaker scores from the 17-point lot. Actually, Monash B's combined speaker score was even higher than #4 University of Cambridge A that had 21 points. Below #2 Sydney B, Monash B had the second highest speaker scores among the finalists. It was not suprising that Monash B whip Nita Rao got the 10th best speaker title.
 
The champions defeated the motion "This House Would Not Allow Religious Communities to Expel Members on the Basis of Views or Actions that Contradict Doctrinal Teachings" from Closing Opposition, the position from where they first won WUDC in 1999. Monash bagged the two previous WUDC titles from Opening Government.

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

UT MARA Wins 2015 Bid, Brings Back WUDC to Malaysia

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia's largest university by size and population, will hold the 2015 World Universities Debating Championships after grabbing 57 votes, 16 more than its rival from University of Auckland. This will be the second time for Malaysia, which hosted WUDC, the most prestigious debating competition in the world, once before in 2005. WUDC 2015 can also be the biggest ever as the organisers advertise that they may open registration for 440 teams with an institutional cap of 3 teams and 2 adjudicators.


The chief adjudicators will be Jonathan Leader-Maynard, who debated for University of Oxford in the final of WUDC 2010, and Shafiq Bazari from the host institution, finalist of the 1st Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championship, also in 2010. They will have 5 deputies, 4 of them representing specific regions.

The preliminary debates will be held on the university's Shah Alam campus, a 20-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur. UT MARA will also become the venue of the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships. The school has pledged to bear all transport costs within the country and provide air-conditioned rooms for debate purposes free of charge.

Euro 2012: Key Results & Motions

BPP Law School (Harish Natarajan & Jack Watson) won the 2012 European Universities Debating Championships in Belgrade in their third consecutive grand final. The same pair reached the EUDC finals in 2010 and 2011 when they were debating for University of Cambridge. BPP Law School, a British institution specialising in professional legal training, had never made it to the last debate of the continental tournament before. Harish Natarajan will be the chief adjudicator in the 2014 World Universities Debating Championships in Chennai. The key results of the competition can be found below along with the motions.

Champions: BPP Law School (Harish Natarajan & Jack Watson)
Finalists: University College Dublin L&H A (Christine Simpson & Mark Haughton), University of Cambridge A (Ashish Kumar & Joe Roussos), University of Oxford A (Hasan Dindjer & Thomas Hosking)
Best Speaker: Maria English (University of Cambridge C)
ESL Champions: University of Leiden A
ESL Finalists: University of Tallinn A, Raphael Recanati International School A, Berlin A
Best ESL Speaker: Danique van Koppenhagen (University of Utrecht A)

Motions:

R1. THBT parents should choose not to send their children to private school
R2. THBT First Nations' peoples (e.g Native Americans in the US or Aboriginal Australians) who live in geographically seperate areas should be given comple autonomous self-government
R3. THBT the music industry should not facilitate the comebacks of artists who committed violent crimes
R4. THBT the Mexico government should remove all limits on law enforcement and the military in the fight against organised crime
R5. THBT the European Central Bank should unconditionally buy significant amounts of government debt from struggling Eurozone countries
R6. THW limit the amount that can be spent by corporations in any one course of litigation
R7. THW require the military to recruit soldiers in direct proportion to the socio-economic make-up of their country
R8. THBT the Palestinians should accept complete demilitarisation in return for a guaranteed sovereign state
R9. THW allow anyone to take up residence in any country provided that they will not be an economic burden on that country

QF (main) THBT Republika Srpska should secede From Bosnia Herzegovina
QF (ESL) THS life sentences without possibility of parole for serial re-offenders
SF (main) THBT schools should aggressively screen students, according to their abilities from a young age
SF (ESL) THBT militaries in newly democraticised Arab states should act as guardians of secularism
GF (main) THW amend the US constitution to prohibit any involvement by religious organisations in the electoral process
GF (ESL) THW retrospectively remove all amnesties granted to those who committed crimes as part of oppressive regimes

WUDC 2014 Bids Finally Show Up, All From Asia

Rajalakhsmi Engineering College

One thing is clear - the 2014 World Universities Debating Championships will take place in Asia. Nobody could file a proposal last January during WUDC 2012 in Manila when the host in two years time should have been decided. But now, there are two excellent options that have been floating since the beginning of May, both from Asian countries. Chulalongkorn University from Thailand seeks to bring back the championships to Bangkok, host of WUDC 2008, while another bid will come from Rajalakhsmi Engineering College, which is based near the southern Indian city of Chennai.

Chulalongkorn University

Both bids are supported by award-winning debaters. The Bangkok bid has Li Sheng Wu, the Stanford debater who won the best speaker award in WUDC 2010 when he was still studying in Oxford, and WUDC 2012 champion Amit Golder on its side. Meanwhile, Chennai's camp boasts Harish Natarajan, who debated for Cambridge when he reached the finals of Euro 2009 and 2010. Both proposals must be submitted by May 20. Until June 3, bidders should entertain questions from all around the world. National representatives should vote from June 4 to 7, 2012.   

WUDC 2012: Key Results

Champions: #28 Monash University B (Amit Golder & Kiran Iyer)
Finalists: #2 University of Oxford B (Steph Bell & Jen Coyne), #8 Stanford University A (Faris Mohiuddin & Michael Baer), #18 University of Sydney B (Elle Jones & Daniel Swain)
ESL Champions: #1ESL University of Tel Aviv A (Omer Nevo & Sella Nevo)
EFL Champions: #2EFL DA Ewha University A (Ji-Sook Kang & Hyo-Cheon Kim)

Top 10 Speakers

1. Ben Woolgar (University of Oxford A/ENG)
2. Steph Bell (University of Oxford B/ENG)
3. Stephen Whittington (Victoria University of Wellington A/NZL)
4. Paul Karp (University of Sydney A/AUS)
5. Hugh Burns (University of Oxford A/ENG)
6. Michael Baer (Stanford University A/USA)
7. Patrick Caldwell (University of Sydney A/AUS)
8. Udayan Mukherjee (Victoria University of Wellington A/NZL)
9. Chris Bisset (Monash University C/AUS)
10. Catherine Murphy (Trinity College Dublin Historical Society B/IRE)

Top 5 ESL Speakers

1. Omer Nevo (University of Tel Aviv A/ISR)
2. Sella Nevo (University of Tel Aviv A/ISR)
3. Danique van Koppenhagen (University of Utrecht A/NLD)
4. Rogier Baart (University of Leiden A/NLD)
5. Tomas Beerthuis (University of Utrecht A/NLD)

Top 5 EFL Speakers
1. Goran Jankuloski (University of Belgrade C/SER)
2. Roderick Sibarani (Universitas Indonesia A/INA)
3. Ahmad Naufal Dai (Universitas Indonesia C/INA)
3. Yuki Tominaga (University of Tokyo A/JPN)
5. Fumihiko Sano (University of Tokyo B/JPN)

WUDC 2012: Monash Wins Title from OG Again

#28 Monash University B (Amit Golder/Kiran Iyer) won the 2012 World Universities Debating Championships in Manila after defeating #2 University of Oxford B (Steph Bell & Jen Coyne), #8 Stanford University A (Faris Mohiuddin & Michael Baer) and #18 University of Sydney B (Elle Jones & Daniel Swain) in the grandfinal that had the motion "This House Supports Nationalism". Golder/Iyer were the Opening Government in that debate, the same role another Monash team had when they championed last year's WUDC.


Golder/Iyer have been on fire since late 2011, winning the Victoria IV and the Melbourne Mini. Their WUDC win was the second time Monash bagged back-to-back WUDC victories. No university has accomplished that feat before. The Melbourne-based school's first and second trophies came from the 1999 and 2000 editions. With 4 titles, Monash is a trophy shy from record holders University of Glasgow and University of Sydney that boast 5.

Ben Woolgar from #1 University of Oxford A topped the overall WUDC 2012 speaker tab. The ESL title went to #1ESL University of Tel Aviv A (Omer Nevo & Sella Nevo) and the brothers also took 1st and 2nd best ESL speaker titles. The winners of the EFL category were #2EFL Ewha University A from South Korea. Goran Jankuloski from #3EFL University of Belgrade C was the best EFL speaker.

Indonesia sent a large contingent this year with 17 teams. Two of them, #1EFL University of Indonesia C (Ahmad Naufal Dai & Irene Severina) and #8EFL Sekolah Tinggi Akuntansi Negara (Teddy Triatmojo & Halim Nuswantoro), reached the EFL semifinals. Naufal also won the 3rd best EFL speaker title but he was below schoolmate Roderick Sibarani of UI A who stood at 2nd best on the EFL speaker tab. Indonesia also caught attention after news that there could be an Indonesian bid for WUDC 2015 emerged.

WUDC 2012: Monash Eyes Back-to-Back Title in Open GF

Australia's Monash University is a step away from becoming the first institution to score a second back-to-back victory in the World Universities Debating Championships. #28 Monash B (Amit Golder & Kiran Iyer) advanced to the grandfinal of WUDC 2012 after defeating hot favourites #1 University of Oxford A (Ben Woolgar & Hugh Burns) in a semifinal from which #8 Stanford University A (Faris Mohiuddin & Michael Baer) also progressed to the last debate.

Monash recorded the first back-to-back WUDC wins after bagging the crown in 1999 and 2000. Oxford equalled that feat with the 2008 and 2009 titles. Last year, Victor Finkel and Fiona Prowse secured the third trophy for Monash. The Melbourne-based school's first trophy in 1999 coincidentally came from a WUDC held in the current host city of Manila.

Two other teams who will debate in the grandfinal tonight are #2 Oxford B (Steph Bell & Jen Coyne) and #18 University of Sydney B (Elle Jones & Daniel Swain). Monash's Golder/Iyer defeated the same Sydney team in the final of the recent Melbourne Mini. Sydney's Jones/Swain had better luck in the UK when they won the Oxford IV last November. Oxford's Bell/Coyne reached the finals of the 2011 Cambridge IV while Stanford's Mohiuddin/Baer were finalists of last year's Yale IV.    

WUDC 2012: Main Semifinals - 3 Oxford, 5 Rest of the World

University of Oxford Union's Debating Chamber 

There is no debate. University of Oxford towers above the rest in varsity debating. Almost 400 teams from around 200 schools joined the 2012 World Universities Debating Championships but 3 out of 8 spots in tomorrow's semifinals went to one society -- Oxford Union.

Reigning champion Monash University from Australia earned two slots while the remainder went to University of Sydney, Stanford University and University College Dublin. Of course, there is a possibility that the final would be Oxford-free but few would place such a bet. The semifinalists include Euro 2011 champions and WUDC 2011 finalists Oxford A (Ben Woolgar & Hugh Burns) who topped this year's tab.



Match-ups:
SF 1: #1 Oxford A v #8 Stanford A v #28 Monash B v #29 Oxford C
SF 2: #2 Oxford B v #3 Monash C v #11 UC Dublin L&H A v #18 Sydney B

WUDC 2012: Main Break List - Teams Come From 5 Countries Only

Philippines International Convention Center -
Venue of the 2012 WUDC Grandfinals

The 2012 World Universities Debating Championships in Manila may have almost 400 participating teams from dozens of countries and all continents but the 32 pairs who earned spots in the main knockouts all come from 5 countries -- England (11), Australia (8), New Zealand (4), Ireland (3) and the United States (6). Award-winning University of Oxford has the most teams in the elimination stage with 4 pairs -- 2 of them topped the tab. The breaking teams are as follows:

1. University of Oxford A/ENG - 23
2. University of Oxford B/ENG - 23
3. Monash University C/AUS - 22
4. Trinity College Dublin (Historical Society) B/IRE - 22
5. University of Sydney A/AUS - 21
6. Yale University B/USA - 21
7. Victoria University of Wellington A/NZL - 20
8. Stanford University A/USA - 20
9. Victoria University of Wellington B/NZL - 20
10. University of Durham A/ENG - 20
11. University College Dublin A/IRE - 20
12. University of Auckland A/NZL - 20
13. University of Nottingham A/ENG - 20
14. Monash University A/AUS - 20
15. University of Sydney C/AUS - 20
16. BPP Law School A/ENG - 19
17. University of Cambridge A/ENG - 19
18. University of Sydney B/AUS - 19
19. Harvard University A/USA - 19
20. University of Melbourne B/AUS - 19
21. Hobart & William Smith Colleges A/USA - 19
22. University of Oxford D/ENG - 19
23. University of Alaska A/USA - 19
24. University of Birmingham A/ENG - 19
25. Trinity College Dublin (Philosophical Society) A - 19
26. University of Durham B/ENG - 19
27. University of Auckland B/NZL - 19
28. Monash University B/AUS - 18
29. University of Oxford C/ENG - 18
30. University of Melbourne A/AUS - 18
31. Yale University A/USA - 18
32. University of London A/ENG - 18   

WUDC 2012: Updates & Motions from Prelim Day 2

The second day of preliminaries at the 2012 World Universities Debating Championships in Manila had an Indonesian team scoring back-to-back wins, the emergence of an unofficial twitter tab and long motions. There will be 3 more rounds today but none of their results will be announced at the chambers. The tension will peak around the turn of the year when the main, ESL and EFL breaks are revealed.

Universitas Indonesia C (Ahmad Naufal Dai & Irene Severina) is the top Indonesian pair entering R7 with 11 VPs after winning R4 and R5. Binus International A (Astrio Feligent & Christian Leonardo), which had a spirited comeback after tough early rounds, ended Prelim Day 2 with 10 VPs. UI A (Adlini Ilma Ghaisany & Roderick Sibarani) and Universitas Gadjah Mada A (Tanti Kosmiyati & Amir Abdul Aziz) follow with 9 VPs.

There are also several teams on 8 VPs, including Binus University A (Bryan Gunawan & Sabarudin Adinugroho) and Sekolah Tinggi Akuntansi Negara A (Teddy Trihatmojo & Halim Nuswantoro). Naufal and Irene still can break into the main knockouts while the rest need to boost their performance to earn spots in the ESL/EFL debates.

For the first time in WUDC history, a shadow tab made from the wave of tweets coming from Manila has emerged. Click here for the active spread that also shows winning possibilities ala sports betting. One of its masterminds is Can Okar, the 2010 WUDC Chief Adjudicator. The tab covers more than 170 from almost 400 participating teams in WUDC 2012. Less than half but the powerhouses are all there.

According to this unoffical tab, the top 3 teams come from Victoria University of Wellington, University of Oxford and Monash University -- the usual suspects. Victoria B has 17 VPs, one short from the perfect score. The highest team from a non-Anglo Saxon nation is Ateneo de Manila University A with 13 VPs. Several online predictions believe only those with 19+ points could break this year. In previous WUDCs, many teams with 18 VPs could slip into the knockouts.

Motions in the first 6 rounds did not touch current affairs. No motions on the Arab Spring, Palestine, Euro debt, US foreign policy, China or the Internet yet. Many of them are long with complex forms and critical tweets have started to float around. The motions on prelim day 2 are as follows:

R4 THW require individuals to use all their wealth beyond $5 million for philantrophic projects
R5 THW require deaf parents to send their children, whether deaf or hearing, to mainstream schools for their primary and secondary education
R6 TH supports politicians who pass progressive legislation even when it is contrary to the wishes of the democratic electorate

WUDC 2012: Updates, Motions, Bid News from Prelim Day 1

De La Salle University Manila - the venue for WUDC 2012

Preliminary rounds of the 2012 World Universities Debating Championships began yesterday at Manila's De La Salle University with 3 rounds. Despite livestreaming difficulties, missing teams and elevator clogs, the tournament ran relatively smooth.

Several of Indonesia's 17 participating teams won their early debates, including Universitas Indonesia A (Adlini Ilma Ghaisany & Roderick Sibarani) and Binus University B (Rosmi Yana & Radite Adjie) that both wrapped up the day with 6 VPs. UI A won R2 from CO in a debate that had a team from the renowned Princeton University as CG. Usually, teams need 18 VPs after 9 rounds to make the cut for the main WUDC break.

At least 6 teams enter R4 with a perfect score of 9 VPs, including reigning Euro champions University of Oxford A (Ben Woolgar & Hugh Burns) and an ESL team, University of Utrecht A (Danique von Koppenhagen & Tomas Beerthuis).

After a buzz that Indonesia might table a bid for WUDC 2014, country representative Bryan Gunawan tweeted the Education Ministry wants to host the championships in 2015. According to the WUDC Constitution article 15, a bid must come from a college or a debating society, suggesting the government should find a varsity partner to be the eligible bidder.

The motions on Day 1 of the preliminaries are as follows:
R1 THW make fathers take paternity leave
R2 THW prevent politicians from making fact claims, that, while not technically lies, are substantially misleading to voters
R3 THW force large companies who leave an area to pay the costs of any resulting structural unemployment