Dutch Worlds 2017 is officially over. Part of the Dutch delegation has made its way home again, while the organisation and some volunteers are still working hard. Time for one final look at Dutch Worlds for the Dutchies.
The teams that eventually broke were Leiden B and Leiden C in the ESL-category, and Leiden A in the Open-category. Leiden B and C topped the ESL tab, while Leiden A was the first ever Leiden team to make it to the Open break. Unfortunately, Maastricht A did not make the break in the end, just as all other Dutch teams who were already ‘dead’. Break night was a lot of fun, being the best attended social of Dutch Worlds. Although Leiden C missed the Open break by the narrowest margin possible (1 speak) and Leiden B by a mere 4 speaks, feelings of euphoria and pride dominated the Dutch delegation. Of course Leiden B and C were disappointed at first with just missing the Open break, however, once the beer started flowing these feelings were postponed to the next morning. The Dutch delegation celebrated New Year fanatical and controlled the dance floor.
The next morning, Leiden A had to perform in the Partial-double Octos (PDO). The motion read ‘This House believes that countries close to conflict zones should only grant long-term asylum to refugees who agree to one year of military service’ and Gigi and Emma were Closing Government. After a thrilling debate, the judges decided it was a first-half debate, thus Leiden A was eliminated. Still, the delegation was extraordinary proud of the best performing Dutch team this year.
Following the PDO were the ESL quarterfinals. On the motion ‘This House Believes That the US should provide significant campaign funding for federal and state congressman and senators who score highly on bipartisan matters’ Leiden B was CG, Leiden C was OG. Both teams managed to convince the judges they deserved to join the last 8 ESL teams left standing and advanced to the ESL-semis. On the Motion ‘This House, as the Pope, would abolish the requirement for clerical celibacy’, both Leiden teams drew CO. Leiden C was able to advance to the ESL finals. Leiden B was less fortunate. Having watched the debate, the call seemed impossible to make. Roel and Devin both delivered speeches that rank amongst the best I have ever seen. An extension that explained the Pope’s incentives like no other team in the debate had done, required in an actor-motion, combined with outstanding rebuttal seemed to guarantee them a well-deserved place in the ESL-final. When the results were announced at the social that night, the complete Dutch delegation was in disbelief. Bona and UDS expressed their anger, while Leiden was experiencing contradictory emotions. Everybody was happy Leiden C, on a 4-3 split, made it to the ESL-finals but at the same time grieved over the injustice that had been done to Leiden B.
Life went on, and Tuesday was the day Floris and Lisa could be crowned world champions. In the Zuiderstrandtheather just outside of Den Haag, three finals would be held. Starting with the EFL-final, followed by the ESL-final and lastly the Open-final. The EFL-final was messy and some Dutchies questioned the ‘EFL-ness’ of various speakers. Most viewers thought the win would go to CO, Belgrade C. After the EFL-final, it was time for the ESL-final. The tension was rising as the Dutch delegation took place in the audience and wished Leiden C all the best one last time. Floris and Lisa drew Closing Government, Floris’ favourite position. Tel Aviv B, Leiden’s biggest opponent got appointed CO. The motion read ‘THW force all news organisations to operate as a non-profit’.
The debate started out weird, when OG chose a model which included state subsidies, not only to set-up these news organisations, but also to keep them free. OO seemed to win the clash in opening half, but brought some uncomparative analysis. When first half was over, it was Floris’ time to shine. Over 7 minutes of sharp analysis followed about the influence of corporations and how that hurt the current news organisation, and in addition how this model would provide more diversity. Tel Aviv pointed out some tension between CG and OG. Furthermore, they talked about why nationalisation of news organisations is harmful and problematized the individuals that would set-up the new news organisations. Lisa clarified the tension between OG and CG in her speech and delivered a strong speech in which she tackled quite some of the points of rebuttal that had been made by Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, it proved insufficient. Tel Aviv was crowned world champion as they won the debate with a 4-3 split over OO.
Other results were as follows. In the Open-final, Sydney A managed to win as OG, the EFL-final was won by Belgrade C in CO. Floris became 5th best ESL-speaker, Roel and Devin shared a 9th place, Lisa became 11th. The Dutch teams ended up ranking as follows:
Leiden A – 18 points
Leiden B – 17 points
Leiden C – 17 points
Maastricht A – 13 points
Leiden D – 13 points
Utrecht A – 12 points
Wageningen A – 12 points
Maastricht B – 9 points
Bonaparte A – 9 points
The other Dutch speakers ranked on the ESL-list as follows:
Emma – 22nd
Gigi – 32nd
Katharina – 66th
Anna – 76th
Jelte – 94th
Pieter – 116th
Louis – 122nd
Alwin – 145th
Tom P – 159th
Tom G – 167th
Nathania – 167th
Zeno – 191st
Aljosa – 204th
Frederic – 224th
Concluding, Dutch WUDC was a huge success. The teams did well, with some even reaching to the finals. Some Dutch judges got to chair rounds and were even represented in the CA-team. The volunteers worked their butts off for 7 days straight and the orgcom for even longer. I want to thank everybody for contribution to what made Dutch Worlds one of the best world championships ever organised.
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