UADC 2014: No Unbeaten Team After 8 Rounds

All of the 24 teams that are eligible to compete in the main elimination stage of the 2014 United Asian Debating Championships have at least lost once in the preliminaries, indicating the tight competition in Asia's most prestigious tournament. #1 Universiti Teknologi Mara 2 (Maizura Mokhsein, Shafiq Bazari, Rafiq Saladin) broke first with a 7-1 win-loss record after 8 rounds. The knockouts start tomorrow.    

1. Universiti Teknologi Mara 2 (MY)
2. Nanyang Technological University 1 (SG)
3. National University of Singapore 1 (SG)
4. International Islamic University 1 (MY)
5. San Beda College 1 (PH)
6. Ateneo de Manila University 1 (PH)
7. University of Tokyo 1 (JP)
8. Universiti Teknologi Mara 1 (MY)
9. National University of Singapore 2 (SG)
10. Ateneo de Manila University 2 (PH)
11. Singapore Management University 2 (SG)
12. University of the Philippines Diliman 1 (PH)
13. National Law Institute University 1 (IN)
14. Universiti Malaya 1 (MY)
15. Multimedia University Melaka 1 (MY)
16. Nanyang Technological University 2 (SG)
17. Lahore School of Economics 1 (PK)
18. National Law School of India University 1 (IN)
19. Far Eastern University 1 (PH)
20. International Islamic University 3 (MY)
21. Korea University 1 (KR)
22. Singapore Management University 1 (SG)
23. National University of Singapore 3 (SG)
24. Nanyang Technological University 2 (SG)

UADC 2014: R3 Delayed, UGM Team Still Unbeaten

The first day of debates in the 5th United Asian Debating Championship ended with the organizers postponing preliminary round 3 due to technical issues. UADC 2014 has 8 prelims that must finish on May 29 when the break should be announced. This could mean the third day would have 3 debates, one more than scheduled, affecting the time for the announcement.

Twelve Indonesian institutions sent teams to Nanyang Technological University for Asia's most prestigious 3-on-3 debate tournament. One of the strongest among them, Universitas Gadjah Mada 1 (Alif Satria, Indriani Pratiwi, Thoriq Murtadho), concluded the day undefeated after beating teams from Hong Kong Polytechnic and reigning champion University of the Philippines Diliman. While Indonesian teams created all-Indonesia finals in the English-as-Foreign-Language category in all four past UADC editions, none of them succeeded to break into the open knockouts. With almost 20 Indonesian teams in this year's tournament, the hope is some could slip into the top 24 teams that will be eligible to advance into the main elimination stage.     

Bipeds-UI Composite Part of Elite Club in Singapore Debate

Binus International debater Jaran Walia, who is leading the 2013 Debater of the Year table, teamed up with Universitas Indonesia speaker Boby Ruitang for last weekend's Singapore Management University BP 2013 and the duo broke 11th, allowing them to advance along with top Asian debaters. Their journey stopped at the quarterfinals where they almost pulled off an upset in a tournament full of regional debaters who were preparing for Worlds. An international hybrid, Robin Teo from National University of Singapore and Valeri Inting from the University of the Philippines, emerged as the champions. Both of them have won the United Asian Debating Championship before, representing their respective schools.  

UADC 2013: UPD Best NUS in a Repeat of 2011 Final

University of the Philippines - Diliman campus

University of the Philippines - Diliman's Carlo Borromeo settled a score with National University of Singapore's Imran Rahim by defeating the latter's team in the final of the 2013 United Asian Debating Championships. In the penultimate debate of UADC 2011, he and his previous partners bowed to a NUS squad, which also had Imran as a member.

Last night, the proposal from #3 UPD 1 (Carlo Borromeo, Jesus Falcis, Valerie Inting) to ban inheritance withstood the challenge from #1 NUS 1 (Imran Rahim, Kelvin Chong, Xiao Hongyu), the only unbeaten team in the prelims. That victory gave UPD its first UADC trophy. Imran did not come home empty as he earned the overall best speaker title, the same honour  he got in the 2011 edition.

UADC 2013: NUS Debaters Top Break List for a Hat-Trick

An undefeated team from regional powerhouse National University of Singapore broke first into the knockouts of the 2013 United Asian Debating Championships in Manila, matching the school's accomplishments in the past two editions of this competition. NUS won the trophy in 2011 but crashed in the semifinals last year.  All three tab-topping NUS teams, including the current one, had star debater Imran Rahim. All of the 16 qualifying teams this year come from either Singapore, Malaysia or the Philippines.  The break list is as follows:

1. National University of Singapore 1 (SIN)
2. Ateneo de Manila University 1 (PHL)
3. University of the Philippines Diliman 1 (PHL)
4. International Islamic University 2 (MAL)
5. University of the Philippines Manila 1 (PHL)
6. Nanyang Technological University2 (SIN)
7. Universiti Teknologi Mara 1 (MAL)
8. National University of Singapore 3 (SIN)
9. National University of Singapore 2 (SIN)
10. Ateneo de Manila University 3 (PHL)
11. University of Santo Tomas 1 (PHL)
12. Xavier University 1 (PHL)
13. Universiti Teknologi Mara 2 (MAL)
14. Nanyang Technological University 1 (SIN)
15. De La Salle University 1 (PHL)
16. International Islamic University 1 (MAL) 

UADC 2012: Key Results

Champion: #5 Nanyang Technological University A (Rohan Jain, Rohit Gadre, Swetha Balachandran)
Finalist: #6 Ateneo de Manila University A (Allan Cabrera, Job de Leon, Peterson Poon)
Best Speaker: Pearl Simbulan (University of the Philippines - Diliman A)
EFL Champion: #1EFL Binus International A (Caroline Herlina, Invi Atmanegara, Jaran Walia)
EFL Finalist: #3EFL Binus University A (Cassandra Etania Liem, Radite Adjie, Rivera Kathrin)
Best EFL Speaker: Invi Atmanegara (Binus International A) 

Top 10 Speakers:

1. Pearl Simbulan (University of the Philippines - Diliman A)
2. Alistair Zosa (University of the Philippines - Diliman A)
3. Raymund Vitorio (National University of Singapore A)
4. Swetha Balachandran (Nanyang Technological University A)
5. Rohan Jain (Nanyang Technological University A)
6. Allan Cabrera (Ateneo de Manila University A)
7. Imran Rahim (National University of Singapore A)
8. Maizura Mokhsien (Universiti Teknologi Mara B)
9. Shafiq Bazari (Universiti Teknologi Mara A)
10. Valeri Inting (University of the Philippines - Diliman A)

UADC 2012: Main Break List

Reigning champion National University of Singapore broke first and second into the main elimination stage of the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships after 8 preliminary rounds. The complete break list is as follows:

1. National University of Singapore A
2. National University of Singapore B
3. Universiti Teknologi Mara B
4. University of the Philippines - Diliman A
5. Nanyang Technological University A
6. Ateneo de Manila University A
7. International Islamic University A
8. Universiti Teknologi Mara A
9. Singapore Management University A
10. Nanyang Technological University D
11. University of the Philippines - Diliman B
12. Nanyang Technological University B
13. Xavier University A
14. University of the Philippines - Manila A
15. Ateneo de Manila University C
16. Ateneo de Manila University B 

Asian BP Jakarta Dates Confirmed

Come rain or shine, Jakarta in 7 months will host its first ever major international debating tournament. The 2012 Asian British Parliamentary Intervarsity Debating Championship will take place from October 22 to 28, organizers confirmed. Debates will fill the Binus International campus that is surrounded by malls in the southern leafy area of Senayan and debaters will stay at the Sunlake Hotel in the northern section of the city.

Binus International Campus, Jakarta
Venue of the 2012 Asian BP 

Jakarta has seen a few competitions with international participation in recent years but all of them only could attract a small number of teams from overseas. ABP promises scores of debaters flying into the metropolis from all over the continent. It has been 5 years since the last major international tournament in Indonesia and it was Bandung that hosted the 2007 Asian Universities Debating Championships, not the country's capital. So, it will be interesting how organizers address the biggest headache in the capital, traffic, and not let the congestions dent the event.

ABP 2012 will have 6 preliminary rounds to decide who can qualify for the open pre-quarterfinals (top 24) and EFL semifinals on October 27. A day after, finals of both categories will conclude the competition. Reigning national BP champion Astrio Feligent Tjong from host Binus International is the convenor while University of the Philippines' Alistair Zosa, finalist of the 2011 United Asian Debating Championships, and Douglas Cochran, Chief Adjudicator of the 2013 World Universities Debating Championships, will lead the judges.

Registration fee is set at $250 per debater/adjudicator, quite a price for Indonesian teams who should take this rare chance to compete with the best in the region. Teams should begin to seek slots on April 15.

UPD Wins Intramuros IV, UI Reaches Quarters

Pearl Simbulan and Alistair Zosa from University of the Philippines-Diliman last weekend won the 3rd Intramuros International IV, a BP tournament in Manila attracting teams from all over Asia. Universitas Indonesia sent Bawor Cup champions Ahdiat Permana and Dimas Hokka there and the pair reached the quarterfinals, a respectable achievement at the regional level. There is no varsity competition in Indonesia during the holy month of Ramadan. The season will resume in September.   

Binus International Wins NUEDC 2011 (Revised)

((Corrections were made in third para due to a flaw in the official tab that was rectified after prizes were given. The clarification message from the adjudication core can be accessed via this link.))

Astrio Feligent/Christian Leonardo (photo from Rizal K)

The 2011 National Universities English Debating Championships main prize went to #2 Binus International (Astrio Feligent & Christian Leonardo) after the duo defeated #1 Institut Teknologi Bandung (Dito Krista & Rifan Ibnu Rahman), #3 Universitas Indonesia (Adlini Ilma Ghaisany & Roderick Sibarani) and #5 Universitas Bakrie (Ammar Syah Anwar & Aryo Febrian) in the final last night. This is Binus International's third win in 2011 following their victories at the ALSA Unpad E-Challenge in February and the UMM English Fiesta in May, making it the most successful debating society in Indonesia this year so far.

Astrio and Chris were also the core of the team that bagged the English Fiesta trophy, making them the only partnership with two wins in 2011. Known as BIPEDS, the debating society is a new powerhouse that only began to seriously compete three years ago. Their meteoric rise cannot be separated from the presence of coach Anna Alfaro Manurung, a former University of the Philippines debater who currently works as a lawyer in Jakarta. BIPEDS will hold Indonesia's most ambitious debating competition BIND next September, which will have lead judges of the coming World Universities Debating Championships in the adjudication core and debaters from all over Asia.

The 2011 NUEDC best speaker award went to Dito Krista from ITB following corrections that were made to the tabulation after the official announcement. Previously, two debaters with the same exact score, Adlini Ilma Ghaisany from UI, popularly known as Gesa, and Rifan Ibnu Rahman from ITB, received the top honour. The latest list put Gesa as the second best speaker while Rifan came fourth. Dito, placed fourth in the flawed tab, became the fourth ITB debater who topped the speaker tab of a national-scale debating competition this year, showing the depth of this engineering school's squad.

The best novice title went to Nurul Djannah and Sheila Koesin from STBA Teknokrat Lampung.

NUS Reigns Supreme in Primier Asian Debate Comp

#1 National University of Singapore 1 (Imran Rahim, Robin Teo, Sadhana Rai) dominated the 2011 United Asian Debating Championships in Macao, taking home the main trophy and finishing the tournament as the only squad without a single loss. Imran Rahim collected the most individual points in the competition and became the overall best speaker, completing the NUS supremacy.

In the grand final, NUS1 convinced the majority of the judge panel that the motion "This House Would Never Offer Amnesty to Heads of State in the Midst of Possible Regime Change" should stand, staving off challenges from the opposition #7 University of the Philippines - Diliman 1 (Alistair Zosa, Carlo Borromeo, Pearl Simbulan). The same NUS team won the recent SMU Hammers 2011, Singapore's top 3-on-3 parliamentary debating tournament, while the exact UPD squad grabbed the national title in the Philippines Inter-Collegiate Debating Championship last April.

NUS v.UPD Showdown Guaranteed in UADC 2011 Final

A team from National University of Singapore and a squad from University of the Philippines-Diliman will battle it out for the crown of the United Asian Debating Championship 2011 in Macao tomorrow. Semifinals will only take place tomorrow morning but these regional debating powerhouses have their seats guaranteed in the competition's last showdon. #1 NUS1 will face schoolmates #5 NUS2  in one semifinal match while #6 UPD2 and #7 UPD1 have to log heads in the other after beating their opponents today.