Victoria Wellington Wins Australs 2014, Third Title in 5 Years

#1 Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Asher Emanuel, Jodie O'Neill, Nicholas Cross) championed the 2014 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships after defeating #3 University of Sydney 2 (Evie Woodforde, Joanna Connolly, Emma Johnstone) in the grand final in Otago, New Zealand. The trio reached the final last year but lost to another Sydney 2 team with different members. It was Victoria's sixth Australs title, the third triumph in the last five years. Victoria's Asher Emanuel also became the best speaker of the tournament. International Islamic University 1 (Ameera Moore, Mubarrat Wassey, Ahmad Hazim Norahmadi)  won the English-as-Second Language category. Ameera Moore and Mubarrat Wassey repeated last year's achievement.

WUDC 2014: Key Results

Champion: #4 Harvard University A (Josh Zoffer & Ben Sprung-Keyser)
Finalists: #1 University of Sydney B (Chris Bisset & Elle Jones), #10 University of Cambridge B (Ben Adams & Kitty Parker-Brooks) and #27 University of Glasgow A (Duncan Crowe & John McKee)
Best Speaker: Elle Jones (University of Sydney B)

ESL Champion: #2ESL Berlin Debating Union A (Dessislava Kirova & Kai Dittman)
Finalists: #1ESL Lund University A (Peer Klussendorf & Emilia Carlqvist), #3ESL Babes-Bolyai University A (Radu Cotarcea & Octavian Buta), #4ESL University of Belgrade B (Helena Ivanova &Stefan Siridzanski)
Best ESL Speaker: Mubarrat Wassey (International Islamic University A)

EFL Champion: #8EFL Institut Teknologi Bandung A (Vicario Reinaldo & Fauzan Reza Maulana)
Finalists: #1EFL University of Warsaw A (Konrad Kiljan & Karolina Partyga), #3EFL New Economic School (Ilya Androsov & Mikhail Sonin), #6EFL Eberhard Karls University Tubingen (Konrad Gutschow & Nikos Bosse)
Best EFL Speaker: Helena Ivanova (University of Belgrade B)

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.

Thessaloniki Wins WUDC 2016 Bid, Debating Comes Home to Greece

Debating is coming home.  Greece, the land where the method of dialectics was first introduced more than 2,400 years ago, will host the 2016 World Universities Debating Championship after a bid to hold the competition in the country's party capital of Thessaloniki decisively triumphed over a proposal from South Africa. The Greeks got 76 votes in the WUDC Council yesterday while their rival only collected 37.

After a string of organizational shortcomings in WUDC Chennai, the council put in place measures to prevent a repeat. There will be an audit on the preparations 3 to 6 months prior to the event and the committee must have a professionally accredited financial officer who can explain budgetary issues to the council. An aspect from WUDC 2014 that stays is the team allocation that considers the past breaking achievements of teams.

WUDC Thessaloniki promises to create a escrow account for adjudicator subsidies that will be controlled by the council and paid before debates begin. They have also uploaded their £500,000 plus budget that includes £50,000 for judge subsidies. The organizers, the Debate Society of Greece, also promise to hold training before and in between rounds for developing teams that will be led by WUDC 2013 champion Nita Rao.

The debates will mostly take place at the University of Macedonia, which is located only 3 km away on the same street from the main accommodation. The chief adjudicator is Manos Moschopoulos, a Greek debater formerly from Deree College who won the best EFL speaker award in WUDC 2010. His current deputies are WUDC 2013 best speaker Chris Bisset (Monash, Sydney) and WUDC 2007 ESL champion Tasneem Elias (IIU), who both have adjudicated in Indonesian tournaments before. Three more DCAs will be hired this year. Universitas Indonesia debater Boby Andika Ruitang will be a member of the language committee that will decide whether a debater is eligible for the ESL or EFL categories.

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

Singaporeans Beat 3 Sydney Teams to Win AWDC 2013

No Asian team have won Australs so far. That is not the case when the men are dropped. #3 National University of Singapore 1 (Natalie Wang & Tan Lee Jing) defeated 3 teams from University of Sydney in the final of the 2013 Australasian Women's Debating Championship today. Two other Asian teams, including Universitas Indonesia (Iki Sari Dewi & Lisia Astari), competed in the tournament held by University of New South Wales but they could not break into the knockouts. Evangeline Woodforde (Sydney 2), whose team broke first and debated in the final, topped the speaker the tab.

Australs 2013: Key Results & Motions

Champions: University of Sydney 2 (Daniel Swain, Paul Karp, Nina Ubaldi)
Finalists: Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Asher Emanuel, Jodie O'Neill, Nick Cross)
Best Speaker: Daniel Swain (University of Sydney 2)
ESL Champions: International Islamic University 1 (Syed Saddiq, Mubarrat Wassey, Ameera Moore)
ESL Finalists: University of Hong Kong 2 (Griffith Chen, Rayna Wang, Helena Hu)
ESL Best Speaker: Syed Saddiq (International Islamic University 1)

Best Indonesian Speaker: Elghafiky Bimardhika (Universitas Indonesia 2)
Best Indonesian Team: Universitas Indonesia 1 (Aulia Anggita, Dennys Kapa, Egalita Irfan) - #1ESL and ESL Quarterfinalists   

MOTIONS

R1 - Education
1. THBT universities should not have patents.
2. THW abolish tenure for university professors.
3. THBT states that don't provide free tertiary education should subsidize career paths for students that are useful for the state.

R2 - Sports
1. THBT the English Premier League should significantly limit the number of foreign players per team
2. THBT professional sporting clubs should only be owned by the local authority of the area they represent.
3. THBT we should ban players' unions in major sporting leagues

R3 - Crime
1. THBT we should require criminal judges to be employed in a prison for 6 months prior to appointment to the bench.
2. THBT illegally gathered evidence and information should be admissible in criminal trials
3. THBT individuals who commit minor crimes should be allowed to convert their sentences into corporal punishment

R4 - Media
1. THBT we should require all free-to-air TV stations to have and adequately fund 60min of ad-free news in prime time.
2. THBT journalists should be required to lodge their sources with a press council for verification.
3. THBT CEOs of major news companies should be democratically elected in open public elections.

R5 - Economics
1. THBT countries should not seek to regulate digital currencies like the Bitcoin
2. THBT prohibit credit rating agencies from disclaiming legal liability for the inaccuracy of their ratings
3. THW make lenders liable for the losses of low-income customers who are not given independent legal advice

R6 - Social Politics
1. THBT we should make legislative deliberations & decisions on retirement age and superannuation private, anonymous, confidential and by the secret ballot.
2. THBT we should support granting private administrative control of cities on the basis of charters
3. THBT gay rights group should disavow the "Gay is the New Black" campaign.

R7 - United States
1. THBT the US should pay Chinese activists to combat the efforts of China's '50 Cent Party'
2. THBT Detroit should sell the Detroit Institute of Art's 1 billion USD collection to service its debts
3. THBT Obama should grant Edward Snowden amnesty from all charges

R8 - Women
1. THW refuse classification to films and TV shows that fail the Bechdel Test.
2. THW pay parental leave as equal and non-transferable portions of leave for each parent
3. THBT progressive women's groups should refrain from attacking female politicians regardless of their policies

OPEN Pre-OF - Social Policy
1. THBT the infanticide of newborns should not be punished beyond the penalty for unlawful late-term abortions
2. THBT it was wrong for parents to accept confidential settlements from the Catholic Church on behalf of their children for abuse committed by clergymen
3. THBT Islamic states should set the curriculum of madrassas

OPEN OF - Environment
1. THBT we should abolish Green Belt regulations.
2. THW rewrite animal welfare standards to be uniform for each species of animal, regardless the animal's use/context.
3. THBT Obama should use the Environmental Protection Agency and other executive powers to aggressively combat climate change

OPEN QF - Middle East
1. THW support aggressive Palestinian protests, like property destruction, in illegal Israeli settlements
2. THBT the Muslim Brotherhood should cooperate with the Adly administration and accept cabinet positions for ending protests against the interim government
3. THBT we regret the rise of the nation state in the Arab World

OPEN SF - Law
1. THBT we should abolish the criminal law, expand tort law and provide extra funding for the litigants
2. THBT the standard or 'responsibleness' in criminal cases should never be influenced by prejudicial assumptions, even if held by the average person in that society.
3. THBT the tax offices should be allowed to retrospectively declare acts of aggressive accounting, which expliot tax loopholes, illegal.

GRAND FINAL
THBT women should be criminally liable for harm to foetuses in utero as a result of their lifestyle choices

ESL QF - Politics
1. THBT minimum standards of living should be legally enforceable in developing countries
2. THBT political parties should abolish their military wings
3. THBT we should select only women as diplomats to countries with poor rights standards for women

ESL SF - International Relations
1. THBT China should establish military bases overseas.
2. THBT Palestinians should not accept citizenship from Arab Nations.
3. THBT we should require UN approval for the giving of military aid

ESL FINAL
THBT the media should not have broadcast the footage of British soldier, Lee Rigby, being murdered in London.

Australs 2013: Sydney Wins 16th Trophy, IIU Tops ESL

#1 University of Sydney 2 (Daniel Swain, Nina Ubaldi, Paul Karp) won the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship yesterday without dropping a match, giving their school its 16th victory in the world's second most prestigious debating competition. In the final they defeated the motion "That women should be criminally liable for harm to foetuses in utero as a result of their lifestyle choices" proposed by #2 Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Asher Emanuel, Nick Cross, Jodie O'Neill). Daniel Swain also topped the speaker tab.

In the ESL category, #2ESL International Islamic University 1 (Ameera Moore, Syed Saddiq, Mubarat Wassey) took the crown after outclassing #5ESL Hong Kong University 2 (Griffith Chen, Rayna Wang, Helen Hu). Syed Saddiq bagged the best ESL speaker award. Two Universitas Indonesia teams broke into the ESL elimination stage but both fell in the quarterfinals. UI 1 (Aulia Anggita, Dennys Kapa, Egalita Irfan) had a 5-3 win-loss preliminary record, one of the best ever by an Indonesian team.

Australs 2013: Sydney v Victoria in Open Final; IIU v Hong Kong in ESL

Venue of the 2013 Australs ESL Grand Final

The main final of the 2013 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships will showcase the best of Australia and New Zealand, the only two countries from where winners come from since the event began in 1975.

#1 University of Sydney 2 (Daniel Swain, Nina Ubaldi, Paul Karp) will seek to give their school, the most successful in the competition's history, its 16th trophy. Their opponents, #2 Victoria University of Wellington (Asher Emanuel, Jodie O'Neill, Nick Cross), come from the only non-Australian institution that has won Australs and the Kiwis want to bring the title back to NZ for the 6th time.   

In the ESL final, #2ESL International Islamic University Malaysia 1, a team from the Asian powerhouse that usually skips this lower category, will face #5ESL Hong Kong University 2. Universitas Indonesia defeated an HKU squad in the 2011 Australs ESL final. This year two UI teams advanced into the ESL elimination stage but fell in the quarterfinals. Teams from Universitas Gadjah Mada and Universitas Atma Jaya also competed but failed to get enough points in the prelims to pass the cut. 

WUDC 2013: Key Results

Champions: #48 University of Monash B (James Beavis & Nita Rao)
Finalists: #2 University of Sydney B (Paul Karp & Dominic Bowes), #6 University of Auckland A (Stephanie Thompson & Ben Milsom), #24 University of Otago A (Alec Dawson & Kieran Bunn)
ESL Winners: #14ESL BRAC University A (Ratib Mortuza Ali & Aaqib Farhan Hossain)
EFL Winners: #5EFL University of Porto A (Ari da Cunha & Tiago Laranjeiro)

Top 10 Speakers
1. Pam Cohn (University of London Union A)
1. Chris Bisset (Monash University A)
3. Catherine Murphy (University of London Union A)
4. Madeline Schultz (Monash University A)
5. Paul Karp (University of Sydney B)
5. Christine Simpson (University College Dublin L&H A)
7. Dominic Bowes (University of Sydney B)
8. Elle Jones (University of Sydney B)
9. Mark Haughton (University College Dublin L&H A)
10. Seb Templeton (Victoria University of Wellington A)
10. Nita Rao (Monash University B)

Top 5 ESL Speakers
1. Martin Kiik (Harvard University C)
2. Arinah Najwa (International Islamic University A)
3. Syed Saddiq (International Islamic University A)
4. Karin Merckens (University of Leiden A)
5. Daan Welling (University of Leiden A)
5. Senna Maatoug (University of Leiden C)
5. Henk van Zullen (University of Groningen A)

Top 5 EFL Speakers
1. Ary da Cunha (University of Porto A)
2. Viktor Prlja (University of Belgrade A)
3. Rodolfo Mendez (Monterrey Institute of Technology A)
4. Radu Tiganas (University of Bucharest A)
5. David Lopez (Monterrey Institute of Technology A)

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

Australs 2012: Monash Gets Trophy, Final to Go Live

Current world champion Monash University will add the 2012 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championship trophy into its cabinet after 2 of its teams reached the final. Since its conception in 1975, the grand finals of Australs had different universities fighting for the crown. Monash has shattered that record. Unbeaten #1 Monash 1 (Chris Bisset, Madeline Schultz, Kiran Iyer) will face #7 Monash 2 (Colette Mintz, Gemma Buckley, James Beavis) later in Wellington, New Zealand and the match will be aired live on their association's website and streaming channel. In the semifinal, they eliminated host Victoria University and archrival University of Sydney respectively.    

Two Asian teams, International Islamic University and Ateneo de Manila University, broke into the knockouts but fell in the octofinals. Last year, National University of Singapore went all the way to the grand final. In that same occassion, Universitas Indonesia won the ESL category. UI sent the only Indonesian team to the 2012 edition but they failed to make the cut. Japan's International Christian University and University of Macao are the finalists this year. The Indonesian twist this year is that former UI debater Melanie Tedja once partnered with one of the finalists, Monash 2's Gemma Buckley, in the 2009 Australs.

World Class Debaters Kick Off AEO 2012

Worlds finalist Elle Jones from University of Sydney and Asian champion Imran Rahim from National University of Singapore will lead the debate seminar at the 2012 Asian English Olympics today at Binus University. Debates, which will use the British Parliamentary format, are scheduled to start tomorrow with varsity and high school teams competing together. Some debaters who just finished competing in the Indonesian Varsities English Debate two days ago will also join the first international tournament in the country of this year. Besides Elle and Rahim, the adjudication core includes Universitas Indonesia's Ahdiat Permana, Thepparith Senamngern from Thailand, Zheng Bo from China and Chief Adjudicator Sabarudin Adinugroho from the host institution.

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

Greek Gods Galore in BIND 2011

Binus International's annual debating competition BIND started its preliminaries yesterday and the break line up will be out later today. All teams must use team codes from Greek mythology in an effort to reduce adjudication bias from institutional recognition (see list below).

Organizers sought to net 80 teams from all over Asia and at first more than 100 teams, including Asian champion National University of Singapore, registered. In the end, 37 teams showed up, including 4 pairs from 3 non-Indonesian universities -- Mahidol University (Thailand), Kyushu University (Japan) and London College of Legal Studies (Bangladesh). After 4 rounds, Mahidol A (Phra Chainarong Sangsranoi & Mabrouq Azeez) cruised into the silent R5 with a perfect score.

BIND boasts an enviable adujudication core as Chief Adjudicator Rajkumar Narendra from Binus International has world class deputies -- WUDC2012 Co-CA Lucinda David (De La Salle University), WUDC2012 DCA Tim Mooney (University of Sydney) and Asian BP 2009 CA Thepparith Senamngern (Assumption University).

Another thing unique to BIND is the top 8 debaters from the preliminaries may see their ranks change. They need to go through a separate round today that will contribute to their overall marks.

BIND 2011's Greek Codes

1. AETHES A (STBA Teknokrat A)
2. AETHES B (STBA Teknokrat B)
3. APHRODITE A (Universitas Indonesia A)
4. APHRODITE B (Universitas Indonesia B)
5. APHRODITE C (Universitas Indonesia C)
6. APHRODITE D (Universitas Indonesia D)
7. APOLLO A (Mahidol University A)
8. ARES A (Binus University A)
9. ARES B (Binus University B)
10. ARTEMIS A (Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta A)
11. ARTEMIS B (Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta B)
12. ATHENA A (Binus International A)
13. ATHENA B (Binus International B)
14. CHRONOS A (Universitas Atma Jaya Jakarta A)
15. CHRONOS B (Universitas Atma Jaya Jakarta B)
16. CUPID A (Kyushu University A)
17. HADES A (Sampoerna Business School A)
18. HELIOS A (Universitas Parahyangan A)
19. HELIOS B (Universitas Parahyangan B)
20. HERA A (London School of Public Relations A)
21. HERA B (London School of Public Relations B)
22. HERMES A (Universitas Padjajaran A)
23. IRIS A (Universitas Gadjah Mada A)
24. IRIS B (Universitas Gadjah Mada B)
25. MORPHEUS A (Universitas Tarumanegara A)
26. MORPHEUS B (Universitas Tarumanegara B)
27. NYX A (Sekolah Tinggi Akuntansi Negara A)
28. PAN A (Universitas Sebelas Maret A)
29. POSEIDON A (Institut Teknologi Bandung A)
30. POSEIDON B (Institut Teknologi Bandung B)
31. RHEA A (Universitas Lampung A)
32. SOCLACIA A (SMA Sang Timur A)
33. THEMIS A (London College of Legal Studies A)
34. THEMIS B (London College of Legal Studies B)
35. TRITON A (Universitas Diponegoro A)
36. ZEUS A (Universitas Brawijaya A)
37. ZEUS B (Universitas Brawijaya B)

Australs 2011: Key Results

CHAMPIONS: #4 Victoria University of Wellington 1 (Seb Templeton, Richard D'Ath, Udayan Mukherjee)
FINALISTS : #6 National University of Singapore 1 (Imran Rahim, Sadhana Rai, Robin Teo)
ESL CHAMPIONS: #7ESL Universitas Indonesia 1 (Dimas Hokka, Riza Aryani, Subarkah Syafruddin)
ESL FINALISTS: #4ESL University of Hong Kong 1 (Abel Lam, Fiona Chong, Benjamin Yu)
BEST SPEAKER : #1 Eleanor Jones (University of Sydney 1)
BEST REPLY SPEAKER : #1 Eleanor Jones (University of Sydney 1)
BEST SPEAKER IN FINAL : #15 Udayan Mukherjee (Victoria University of Wellington 1)
BEST ESL SPEAKER : #38 Arinah Najwa (International Islamic University 1)