On 5-7 July 2019, the College of Europe in Natolin, in cooperation with the Warsaw Debate Chamber, organized one of the most prestigious debating championships in Europe and TOP 3 in the world – the European Round Robin @ College of Europe in Natolin.
The 32 best debaters from Europe and beyond competed against each other, arguing for and against motions related to the most challenging dilemmas of the modern world, like China's economic strategy, the LGBT movement and the morality of excessive wealth. The contenders included students, PhD candidates and professionals from 11 countries and several professional fields e.g.: economics, politics, computer science, data science and physics.
The official tournament format was the British Parliamentary Style, the most popular style of academic competitive debates in the world, where 4 teams consisting of 2 debaters each learn the topic (called "a motion" in BP debates) and their position only 15 minutes before the start of the round. Motions are carefully selected by the Chief Adjudicators and announced 15 minutes before the round. They can address the whole spectrum of global or local issues in economics, law, social policy or philosophy. The winning team is the one that manages to convince our experienced debate judges by better proving their side through logical and merit-based arguments.
The final debate was unanimously won by the team from Tel Aviv: Tom MANOR and Noam DAHAN, while prize for the best speaker was awarded to Teck WEI TAN.
Team Break:
1. Tan/Marshall (Teck Wei Tan, Raffy Marshall) – 15 pts | 843 spks
2. Steven/Sella (Steven Rajavinothan, Sella Nevo) – 13 pts | 833 spks
3. Aviv MD (Tom Manor, Noam Dahan) – 12 pts | 826 spks
4. Belgrade MS (Milos Marjanovic, Stefan Siridžanski) – 11 pts | 828 spks
Top 10 Speakers:
1. Teck Wei Tan – 422 spks | 84,4 avg
2. Raffy Marshall – 421 spks | 84,2 avg
3. Sella Nevo – 420 spks | 84,0 avg
4. Lucía Arce Cubas – 419 spks | 83,8 avg
5. Tom Manor – 417 spks | 83,4 avg
6. Milos Marjanovic – 414 spks | 82,8 avg
6. Stefan Siridžanski – 414 spks | 82,8 avg
6. John Papantoniou – 414 spks | 82,8 avg
6. Rachel O’Nunain – 414 spks | 82,8 avg
10. Steven Rajavinothan – 413 spks | 82,6 avg
10. Jason Xiao – 413 spks | 82,6 avg
The tournament was convened by Radosław CZEKAN and Łukasz DOBROMIRSKI. Chief Adjudicators were Gigi GIL and Muhammad ASADULLAH KHAN while the equity team consisted of Olivia CHWAT and Tudor MUSAT.
All rounds were life-streamed and can be found here: Round 1-4, Round 5 and Final.
Our sincerest congratulations to all the participants and organisers!
Photo courtesy: Antonina Dębska