WSDC 2014: Title Goes to England, Indonesia Debater Best EFL Speaker

WSDC 2014 Champion - England

#3 England (Will Cook, Eleanor Shearer, Sam Feinburg, Louis Collier) won the 2014 World Schools Debating Championships in Bangkok, giving their country its fourth title from the most prestigious high school debate competition on the planet. Team Indonesia came home with the best EFL speaker award after an astonishing performance by a Banten high school debating star.

In the final that had England oppose the motion 'This House Believes That an ASEAN Political Union is an Impossible Dream', the eventual champion dashed the hope of  #1 South Africa (Saadiyah Mayet, Kate Dewey, Josh Broomberg, Rachel Gardiner, Samuel Musker) to become the first champion from the continent of Africa. England's Will Cook took home the best speaker award.

WSDC 2014 turned out to be a tournament of surprises. The teams that debated in the WSDC 2012 final, Scotland and Wales, failed to advance. In the top 16, there were 6 Asian teams - Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Singapore and the Philippines. Indonesia, which had never broken in the last decade, advanced with 6 wins, the most ever scored by a team from the country. China broke for the first time ever. South Africa, which has never won WSDC, topped the preliminary tab with 8 wins and 23 judge points, short one ballot from perfect. They continued to convince all judges in knockout rounds before the final. Triumphant England stopped that incredible run after a 7-2 split decision.  

#9 Peru ranked as the Best English-as-Second-Language Team with Nishant Selvalingam from Malaysia topping the ESL speaker list. #10 Netherlands exited the tournament as the Best English-as-Foreign-Language Team with SMA 2 Tangerang Selatan Regina Cara Riantoputra snatching the top EFL speaker title. She is the first Indonesian to officially win that title. Last year, another Indonesian debater was announced to get that award but the organizers had to give it to another speaker after the eventual winner's language status was corrected. The next tournament will take place in Singapore, the only Asian country with a WSDC title. 

WUDC 2014: Chennai Worlds Will Be Remembered for Its Drama

It won't be Worlds without drama but Chennai tops it. The 2014 World Universities Debating Championships in the Indian city has experienced a gamut of problems, ranging from chronic delays, bed shortages, a bus breakdown, poor internet connection, live stream glitches, unsatisfying meals and lack of official online match ups. All of those problems could happen in any tournament of this size. However, there have been two other issues that are disturbingly serious - the police questioning of Pakistani debaters and the threat of judges boycotting the competition.


While details are sketchy about the first matter, debaters from Pakistan - India's real world nemesis - had to face the authorities who wanted to know them and their visas better. The encounter raised the possibility of replacing them with swings in the middle of the second day for preliminary debates. That worst scenario was averted but the whole incident affected scheduling. It was nice to know debaters around the world showed their support for the Pakistanis when they were allowed to return to the scene.

The second problem is more divisive. Independent judges, many from traditional debating powerhouses, threatened to strike after reports of organisers wanting to renege on promises. Some were promised they could get subsidies in advance for the willingness to fly to India while others thought they would get the travel incentives at the start of the tournament. When they heard news that none of their cost would be reimbursed, these adjudicators united and demanded accountability. Day 3 of preliminaries got delayed before an agreement was reached. After missing a deadline, organizers said subsidies would be paid in the afternoon. Unofficial reports are saying the Rajalakshmi Engineering College, which is hosting WUDC Chennai, understood allowing a boycott to happen would be shameful.

There is a positive side from WUDC Chennai. The first seven motions satisfied the quench for straightforward, fair and relevant debates for global citizens. Many were unimpressed with some of the motions in WUDC Manila and Berlin, especially with the long, convoluted ones. There were abundant complaining tweets right after they were announced although it has to be said that the short and clean motion for WUDC Manila's grand final won applause. There has been close to zero poking at WUDC Chennai motions and the 'hook-up culture' motion right before socials was apt. For Indonesians, the motions on payment to victims of crimes, political dynasties and US funding of madrassas are all real issues. (Full list of motions will be uploaded after WUDC Chennai ends).

While there may be more twists and turns in WUDC Chennai along the way, hopefully the high quality of the motions and debates can keep the spirit alive. The simple wish is remembering WUDC 2014 for the debates besides its drama in the land of Bollywood.

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. 

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 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.