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.
Round 7
At Novi Sad EUDC, a motion on ASEAN was set in one of the rounds. However, due to some issues in releasing the motion, it had to be retracted and it was not debated (unfortunately for me and my partner at that time). Nonetheless, the CA team at Thailand WUDC succeeded and introduced the first motion of the final day of inrounds with this infoslide:
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
At its formation, ASEAN adopted principles that have come to be known as “the ASEAN Way.” These principles place strong emphasis on national sovereignty, and a commitment to non-intervention in the affairs of member states. All ASEAN decisions are made unanimously.
Of course, due to the concept being introduced in the infoslide, one can speculate what the motion will be and that it will definitely consider “the ASEAN way”. The motion read:
This House believes that ASEAN should abandon “the ASEAN Way”.
Unfortunately, Bonaparte had a rough day 2, ending on 8 points after 6 rounds. Despite this, they were ready to take their revenge, they stood opposite teams from La Verne University (California, USA), Tübingen University (Germany), and Fordham University (New York City, USA). In the end, they won the debate from Opening Opposition. Huyen and Angela both winged good rooms, with Angela judging the room hosting Oxford B, Harvard A, and Sydney B.
Round 8
The next motion did not have an infoslide and hosted a very interesting motion, in my opinion:
This House believes that the feminist movement should support the narrative that “beauty does not matter” over the narrative that “all bodies are beautiful”.
Bonaparte now faced teams from the International Christian University (Tokyo, Japan), Islamic University of Technology (Dhaka, Bangladesh), and Yale University (Connecticut, USA). Though excelling once again from OG, they had to bow down to ICU in CO and Saskia and Nikola took the 2nd place in this round, now placing them at 13 points. In this round, both Huyen and Angela were set to chair another room.
Round 9
It is exciting that Bonaparte enters round 9 on 13 points, as the (ESL) break is expected to lie on 16 points, meaning it is an all-or-nothing round for them. The motion that set the stage for their battle was:
This house would abolish primary and secondary school grades/years that group children based on age, and instead group them by competency and intelligence.
An education motion in round 9, very interesting indeed. The opponents for our friends from Bonaparte came from the University of Toronto (Canada), Jagiellonian University (Cracow, Poland), and Tel Aviv University (Israel). The former two opponents proved to be too tough and Bonaparte had to take the 3rd, still beating Tel Aviv. Therefore, they ended the tournament on 14 team points. Angela and Huyen once again winged, this time with Huyen judging an excellent room with Cambridge A and Harvard A and B.
The break
As eluded to before, the ESL break was expected to lie on 16 points. This was true; only one team broke on 15 points. As such, Bonaparte, unfortunately, did not manage to make the outrounds of WUDC. Nonetheless, we are proud of them and still wish them a lot of fun in Thailand.
Regarding our judges, Angela and Huyen, they both managed to break! We extend our most heartfelt congratulations to them and wish them all the best in the outrounds that they will judge.
We will keep you updated on the outrounds and the final results of the tournament tomorrow. Moreover, we will post an interview with the Dutchies that went to Thailand, so stay tuned!
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