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[Astana EUDC 2020] Het EK Debatteren

Dag 1

Door: Harmen de Jong (Utrecht Debating Society)

Vandaag was de eerste dag van Astana EUDC, het EK Debatteren. Vanwege het coronavirus vindt het toernooi plaats op Discord en Zoom, dus een reisje naar Kazachstan zit er helaas niet bij inbegrepen. Mede doordat iedereen vanuit zijn woonkamer kan meedoen zijn de panels dit jaar erg sterk; iedere kamer heeft 3 tot 5 juryleden en veel van de kamers hebben zelfs twee juryleden die ik zonder zorgen in de chair zou zetten. Verwacht dus een competitieve jurybreak en sterke calls, alhoewel Leiden A toch echt een eerste verdiende in ronde 3.

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Thailand WUDC 2020 – Interviews

Written by: Mike Weltevrede

With WUDC having concluded, we look back with the participants. How did they experience the tournament? What were their favourite motions? Did they spend more time in Thailand and surroundings and how did they like it?

Author’s note: They were in a sunny country while we were here in the cold. I bet they had a great time. *grunt*

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Thailand WUDC 2020 – Outrounds

Written by: Mike Weltevrede

The outrounds of WUDC 2020 hosted a variety of motions. Unfortunately, these motions were only published as video titles to the streams (not to the tab) and the corresponding infoslides were not provided. Moreover, not all outrounds were streamed (probably because the speakers in those debates did not consent). Nonetheless, we will provide you with the motions that are known to us and the results of the three finals.

Edit (January 7, 2020): The motions tab has just been published to Tabbycat. The missing motions have been added to this article.

We will soon post some interviews with the Dutch participants at WUDC. For now, leave your comments on these motions and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

PS: Huyen and Angela judged the ESL and EFL semifinals, respectively!

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Thailand WUDC 2020 – Day 3

Written by: Mike Weltevrede

The last day of inrounds is upon us. After these rounds are done, we will know which teams have made the so-called outrounds of the World Championships. Let us first look at our friends from Amsterdam. Since the break has already been announced, all team names have been decoded and we can now mention that Saskia and Nikola represented ASDV Bonaparte in Thailand.

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Thailand WUDC 2020 – Day 2

Written by: Mike Weltevrede

After ending day 1 on 6 out of 9 points, the Dutch team went into day 2 enthusiastically. As you recall, Angela and Huyen chaired the first three rounds and saw some good rooms. Let’s see what the second day brought our friends.

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Thailand WUDC 2020 – Day 1

Written by: Mike Weltevrede

The 40th edition of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) has started. This time, it takes place on the campus of Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand. The Netherlands is represented by one team: Saskia Bergmann and Nikola Michaylov. There are two (former) Dutch debaters judging the competition: Huyen Nguyen (formerly EDS, also serving as language officer) and Angela Portocarrero (formerly UDS). In this article, we will give a short insight into the first three rounds of the competition. In summary, Saskia and Nikola were able to snatch 6 out of 9 points and both Angela and Huyen were honoured to chair all three rounds.

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Athens EUDC: the heart of debating

Written by Daan and Jelte

Another year, another EUDC. This summer our beloved Dutch debaters have landed in Athens, where the true origin of debating lies! Although the first day of inrounds has already finished, we will get you up to speed about what to expect from the Dutch delegation this year. But first, a brief introduction to EUDC for all the parents.

The European University Debating Championships, abbreviated EUDC, is a yearly competition between universitites in Europe, whose students debate. Simple as that. There are roughly 200 teams competing, including a staggering 15 Dutch teams this year. All teams compete in 9 inrounds, taking place over three days. After the 9 rounds, the best teams can break either OPEN (meaning all participating teams can break) or ESL (meaning only non-native speakers can break).

A list of the participating Dutch teams can be found below. Who should you look out for in our updates over the coming days? One of the uncontested favourites in this year’s EUDC is Leiden A (David and Louis). David has shown in the past year to be one of the very best in the Dutch Debating Community. After winning finals such as Roosevelt, YCY, Cologne and  Kalliope, he seems incredibly hard to beat. Louis, who we might still know from not knowing who Erdogan is, is rapidly improving. On his cv from the past year we find amongst others winning Bucharest Open and the ESL final of Cambridge IV. This duo managed to win Belgrade Open, so their prep is top notch. They can also be crowned as the team that is the most likely to run off with your mom, according to Daan Spackler.

Another fan favourite is Bonaparte A: Marike and Zeno. Marike was part of last year’s top team Marike and Tom, who managed to secure the first Bona break in years. This year she has traded Tom in for a better looking partner. Whether he will be just as good of a debater remains to be seen. Anyways, Marike knows what it’s like to be under pressure on the third day, and how to come out on top. That experience will undoubtedly be invaluable as the tournament progresses.

Cicero A (Lotte and Roel) might be one of the teams that has shown the most improvement. Lotte and Roel have been debating together for three years now, and their team dynamics got better and better. They managed to break at lots of competitions last year, such as Rotterdam and Delft. Roel missed the break last year narrowly. Lotte stated ‘In terms of prep, we have done nothing remarkable in the past few months, byt it helps that we have been speaking together for longer now. We did listen to some deeply boring podcasts and have ten practically untouched issues of the Economist.’ True debaters!

Kalliope A (Linsey and Joris) and Rhetorica A (Katharina and Alwin) are often mentioned as outsiders for the break. All four have been debaters for a while and have all participated in previous editions of either EUDC or WUDC. Joris and Linsey narrowly missed the break last year, still causing incidental nightmares when Joris is sleeping. Katharina and Alwin have both performed well at various tournaments, but have never managed to break at a large international. Will Katharina’s move to Leiden break the Maastricht curse?

Utrecht A (Friso and Harmen) is a relatively new team. Both haven’t been in the circle for longer than two years. You might still know them from the novice final of Amsterdam Open 2018. Ever since, they improved massively. The dynamic duo showed what they can do at DAPDI two weeks ago. After breaking on 12/12, becoming best and second best speaker ánd winning the final, Friso and Harmen showed that this is a team to take into consideration. Harmen stated: ‘I don’t think we already have the level to break, but we might get close. My main goal is to develop further. Making cases and rebuttal goes solid, but I need to structure more and be more efficient. We are really excited.’

Another lesser well-known team from the Dom city is Utrecht B (Justin and Vittoria). Justin has been a great treasurer for the last year and given great feedback. Vittoria managed to reach the final of Utrecht Internal, even though it was her first ever competition and she had a terrible team partner. Justin: ‘I hope to achieve the highest cannonball in the pool and I am incredibly excited for this opportunity and I would like to thank my swim teacher. Also, haven’t prepped for debating, but that’s alright since I am not in a competitive but vacation mood when it comes to debating.

Want to know how all these teams and the others are doing? Follow SevenTwenty on Facebook. We will provide you with live updates as the tournament progresses. Let’s hope it will be another great year for Dutch debating!

A full list of all the teams:

Bonaparte A: Marike & Zeno
Bonaparte B: Dino & Ilinca
Cicero A: Lotte & Roel
Cicero B: Maarten and Maija
Erasmus A: Fenna and Neila
Erasmus B: Eugene and Nayan
Groningen A: Joris and Linsey
Leiden A: David and Louis
Leiden B: Fabian and Franka
Leiden C: Amal and Lucy
Rhetorica A: Alwin and Katharina
Rhetorica B: Angela and Lisa
Rhetorica C: Lion and Ziga
Utrecht A: Friso and Harmen
Utrecht B: Justin and Vittoria

Adi Cohen Berko
Anna Brose
Daan Spackler
David Simon
Huyen Thi Thanh Nguyen
Lena Martinovic
Lisa van Vliet
Nikola Michaylov
Reka Elter

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Dutch Worlds Is Over: The Results

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.

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Dutch Worlds: To break or not to break?

The in-rounds of Dutch Worlds are over and the Dutch delegation is anxiously awaiting the results. The teams that were still ‘live’ to break in either the Open-category or the ESL-category are: Leiden A, Leiden B, Leiden C and Maastricht A. Unfortunately, the other teams are no longer able to break. Tonight at 00:00 the results will be announced. For some the start of excessive drinking, for others the start of excitement about the out-rounds to come, for Roel probably both.

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Dutch Worlds Has Started: Day 1

After an exciting, but tiring, first day, I bring you the first update on the Dutch delegation at Worlds. Starting with a quick recap of what happened today: we woke up at 6:30, ate breakfast and took a shower in Debater Town Kijkduin. We travelled with buses to the Haagse Hoge School, where all the debates would take place. After some briefings and fun announcements led by Senna and Tomas, it was finally debating time.

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