2013 Archives

Australia win their ninth World Schools Debating Championships

There could, in the end, be only one winner in the tournament’s 25th year: Australia, 14 times in the Grand Final and now nine times the champions. For many years they exerted a stranglehold on the trophy; it seems almost strange that this is their first victory in seven years. Congratulations to Bo Seo (also best speaker of the tournament), Zoe Brown, Nick Salmon, James Stratton and Tyrone Connell for their victory – unanimous from the nine judges – over Swaziland. The motion was “This House believes that Turkey is better off outside the EU”. If you’d like to skim the arguments made in the final, please see the Twitter feed of India coach Sayeqa Islam.

Swaziland still go home with a medal most other participating countries have never won and a fairy-tale story: a Grand Final appearance in only their second year at the competition, after winning Best New Team last year. Congratulations to Fanele Mashwama, Sandile Mndzebele, Lindelani Mabuza, Oliver Havelock Mills and Wabantu Hlophe on their amazing achievement.

Congratulations also to Peru, Best ESL Team, and Indonesia, Best EFL Team.

And well done to all of you who participated in the 25th WSDC in Antalya, Turkey, and those who made it happen!

Follow: Team Australia on Twitter / Team Swaziland on Twitter / WSDC on Twitter

WSDC 2013: semi-final results

Australia and Swaziland won their semi-finals (beating Ireland, 7-0, and Singapore, 4-3, respectively), and will face each other in the Grand Final on the motion “This House believes that Turkey is better off outside the EU.”

WSDC 2013: quarter-final results

In the Quarter-Finals of WSDC 2013, held this morning in Antalya, Turkey:

Ireland beat Canada (4-3)
Australia beat South Africa (6-1)
Singapore beat England (5-2)
Swaziland beat Mexico (4-3)

Congratulations to the teams going on to the Semis! You can download the latest draw from the main WSDC website.

WSDC 2013: octo-final results

The results of the octo-finals, on the motion “THW cut welfare benefits to compulsive gamblers”, were as follows:

Canada bt New Zealand 4-1
Swaziland bt Greece 5-0
Singapore bt Slovenia 5-0
South Africa bt UAE 3-2
Australia bt Netherlands 4-1
England bt Hong Kong 5-0
Mexico bt India 4-1
Ireland bt Peru 4-1

The quarter-finals will therefore be: Canada v Ireland, Swaziland v Mexico, Singapore v England and Australia v South Africa. Good luck to all of you!

WSDC 2013: the break

The break has been announced in Antalya and you can now download the official team standings after all preliminary rounds. The top 16 teams will go on to the knock-out octo-finals, as follows:

New Zealand v Canada
Swaziland v Greece
Singapore v Slovenia
South Africa v UAE
Australia v Netherlands
England v Hong Kong
Mexico v India
Peru v Ireland

Congratulations to all those teams and to all who have taken part in the debates so far; and commiserations to those who visas or illness kept from competing in all their debates.

WSDC 2013: Results from Rounds 5, 6 and 0

Sounds like illness is beginning to hit at WSDC 2013, one of the many things you hope doesn’t affect an international tournament and often does. The Chief Adjudication Panel are doing the very best they can with a depleted team and we wish all of them health, cheer and rest! Here are the results from Round 5, Round 6 and Round 0 from the past few days.

WSDC 2013: Results from Rounds 3 & 4

Here are the official results from Round 3 and Round 4 of WSDC 2013.

WSDC 2013: Results of Rounds 1 & 2

All the results from WSDC 2013 in Turkey will be published on the WSDC website, just as soon as we receive them here at WSDC HQ.

Rounds 1 & 2 are available for download now. Assuming all results are correct, Ireland is the only team not to drop a judge so far. Nigeria has forfeited their first two debates after visa difficulties kept them from flying to Turkey; they hope to arrive tonight.