New Zealand Schools’ Debating

The full World Schools’ 2010 Speaker Tab has now been released. New Zealand did extremely well, with all five speakers placing in the top 25 in the world.

In addition to Maria English placing 8th:

• Aria Newfield placed 11th, only a fraction of a point outside the top 10;
• Jasmin Moran placed 18th;
• Nick Cross placed 22nd; and
• Josh Baxter placed 24th.

These are superb results. Well done!

Congrats to Maria English, the captain of the NZ Team, who has just been named as the 8th best speaker at the largest WSDC ever! A great achievement.

Unfortunately, the NZ team bowed out in the quarters with a 6-1 loss to Canada. The motion was “That we support paying compensation for injustices committed by past generations”.  New Zealand debated very well and the debate was incredibly close.

A disappointing result for the team but they have done extremely well throughout the tournament and have plenty to be proud of. Hard luck – but also congratulations to the team for all of their hard work and great results to date.

In the semi-finals England defeated Wales and Canada defeated Singapore. They will meet in the Grand Final tomorrow.

At the Championship Dinner the Grand Final results will be announced as well as the top ten speakers. Fingers crossed for one or more Kiwis!

This afternoon in the octo-finals New Zealand (Nick, Maria, Aria) beat the Netherlands by 5-0 proposing “This House would never place restrictions on freedom of speech”.

New Zealand faces Canada in the quarter-finals tomorrow morning.

Australia faces Wales, Pakistan faces England and Singapore faces Slovenia.

If New Zealand beats Canada then their semi will be against either Singapore or Slovenia.

Break position / Team name / Wins / Judges / collective team scores

1. Australia – 8 – 23 – 6277
2. Canada – 8 – 22 – 6171
3. Singapore – 8 – 22 – 6161
4. Greece – 8 – 22 – 6105
5. England – 8 – 20 – 6188.5
6. Slovenia – 7 – 19 – 6016.5
7. New Zealand – 6 – 19 – 6189.5
8. Wales – 6 – 19 – 6080.5
9. Israel – 6 – 18 – 6012
10. Netherlands – 6 – 18 – 5961
11. Sri Lanka – 6 – 17 – 6047.5
12. India – 6 – 16 – 5982.5
13. Pakistan – 5 – 18 – 6114.5
14. Scotland – 5 – 17 – 6163
15. Ireland – 5 – 16 – 6093.5
16. Hong Kong – 5 – 16 – 6074.5

OCTO-FINAL DRAW

Australia v Hong Kong
Canada v Ireland
Singapore v Scotland
Greece v Pakistan
England v India
Slovenia v Sri Lanka
New Zealand v Netherlands
Wales v Israel

Note that while NZ are on 6 from 8, one loss was to Israel in a very close debate, and the other to Australia who are at the top of the tab. They are also second on speaker points. So very good results overall. Congratulations to the team.

Octo-finals are tomorrow afternoon.

In Round Seven this morning New Zealand (Josh, Aria, Jasmin) beat Nigeria 3-0, opposing “That terrorist suspects should be tried in civilian courts”.

In Round Eight this afternoon New Zealand (Nick, Maria, Aria) lost to Australia by 3-0, proposing “That we should legalise performance enhancing drugs in sport”.

New Zealand therefore finishes on 6 wins and 19 judges.

There are five teams on eight wins: Australia, Greece, Singapore, England and Canada. New Zealand will definitely break, likely somewhere between position 8 and 14.

Break will be announced later tonight. I will endeavour to get someone back in NZ to update the site with where NZ breaks and who they will be against in the octo-finals tomorrow.

In Round Five this morning, New Zealand (Nick, Maria, Aria) defeated the United Arab Emirates by 3-0, opposing “That doctors should report evidence of marital abuse to the police”.

In Round Six this afternoon New Zealand took its first loss of the tournament (and first at WSDC since the Grand Final in Washington in September 2008!). New Zealand (Nick, Maria, Jasmin) proposed the motion “That developing countries should have the right to prioritise economic development over the environment” against Israel, but lost in a 1-2 split.

After six rounds New Zealand is on 5 wins and 1 loss, having taken 16 judges out of 18.

Rounds 7 and 8 are tomorrow. In Round 7, New Zealand faces Nigeria, opposing “That terrorist suspects should be tried in civilian courts”. In Round 8 New Zealand is opposing against Australia on an impromptu motion”.

Shamelessly stolen from Jasmin’s Facebook…

The falcon is the official logo/mascot/animal of WSDC 2010…

Yesterday was a rest day at WSDC 2010. The teams, coaches and judges went on a “Desert Safari” in the Qatari desert outside of Doha. A convoy of 4WDs dropped us at a camp in the desert where there was food, drinks, dancing, volleyball, table-tennis, and a variety of other activities.

Today there are tours of Doha to places such as the famous Islamic Art Museuem.

Debating kicks off again tomorrow with founds 5 and 6. In Round 5, New Zealand is against United Arab Emirates, opposing “That doctors should report all evidence of marital abuse to the police”. In Round 6, New Zealand is proposing on an impromptu motion.

In Round Three, New Zealand (Josh, Aria and Jasmin) defeated Romania by 3-0, proposing “That all states have the right to have nuclear weapons”.

In Round Four, New Zealand (Nick, Maria, and Josh) defeated USA by 3-0, opposing ”This House supports quotas for women in high government positions”.

New Zealand is on 4/4 wins and taken 12/12 judges.