EFL best speaker

DO HYEONG KWON from the Republic of Korea.

ESL best speaker

JANICE YOON from the Republic of Korea!

Top ESL team 2009

Reclaiming their 2008 title, TEAM GREECE!

Top EFL team 2009

THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA!

Dan the man

The top 10 speakers for WSDC 2009 are (hopefully accurate, as I hastily scribbled the names):

10. Melanie Pope (England)
9. Lee Jia Wei (Singapore)
8. Iqbal Kassam (Canada)
7. Ben Woolgar (England)
6. Jack Gamble (England)
5. Anish Hazra (Singapore)
4. Teoh Ren Jie (Singapore)
3. Christopher Bissett (Australia)
2. Maria English (New Zealand)
1. DANIEL KALISKI (South Africa)
(seen here just after receiving his award to a standing ovation)

Top 50 speaker tab, team tab and EFL/ESL awards coming soon...

And the winner is.........

NEW ZEALAND!!! 6-1

Whaia e koe ki te iti kahurangi; ki te tuohu koe, me maunga tetei
(Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.)

The final count down

Grand final resolution: THB that all illegal immigrants should receive amnesty.

New Zealand is proposing, England is opposing.

The debate begins in about 10 hours' time......

News just to hand.....

No, I haven't found my purse BUT here's some even BETTER news. We have our finalists.

The semi-final topic this afternoon was "THBT dictatorships should not receive international aid". England proposed against Greece. New Zealand proposed against Singapore. England won 4-1 and New Zealand won 3-2.

Ah yes, these two teams!! May the best one win. I have a little whakatauki (proverb) for each member of both teams:
toko reo, toku ohooho (my words, my awakening.)

Thank you for enlivening us with your words. May you realise always the good and the transformation you can achieve with them.

I look forward to the final and will bring everyone the result as always.

C

Close encounters of the word kind

A future Kiwi debater supporting the team in Athens.

Resolution: THW lower the voting age.

The teams are listed below, proposition first then opposition, with the number of judges obtained. From all accounts, the debaters were close encounters and hard fought. I witnessed the best debate I'd seen all tournament between Pakistan and England, a joust full of sophistication, wit and rhetoric and the best of debating.

Pakistan 1 v England 4
Australia 2 v Singapore 3
New Zealand 4 v Canada 1
Greece 4 v Scotland 1.

So England meets Greece in a semi final for the second consecutive year and New Zealand meets Singapore.

I'd like to watch but it appears that some %$#@ has stolen my purse and being without cash and credit cards in a foreign country is a nuisance to put it mildly so instead of enjoying the semi-finals I'll be trying to do the contact-NZ-at-midnight-and-cancel-the-cards thing. However, the semi-finals will be much more fun than my woes so I will bring you the results once I know them. And anyway, at least I've seen some outstanding debating.

Delphi verdicts....

Hi folks. Sorry about the delay in getting the results of the octo-finals to you. I wanted to blog from Delphi after the debates because the Wi Fi access there is clean and consistent. However, I was told I had to get on the bus imediately as the debate I watched (NZ v Wales) was the last debate to finish and we were late. As I waited on the bus for close to 12 minutes while various stragglers from the apparently earlier finishing debates climbed aboatrd the buses, I speculated as to how many blogs I could have posted in that time.

There was then the 3 hour bus trip back to Athens (including dinner and another stop) and after that, a 2.5 hour wait for internet connectivity here at the hotel. And it's just come free now.

So, results..


Philippines 1 v England 2
Australia 3 v Netherlands 0
New Zealand 3 v Wales 0
South Africa 0 v Scotland 3
Peru 0 v Greece 3
Canada 2 v Ireland 1
Slovenia 0 v Singapore 3
Korea Republic 1 v Pakistan 2

No oracle, just a few words, from Delphi

7 buses have taken over 300 people from Hotel Stanley, through the bustling Athens traffic, along cobbled streets in little villages high in the hills, past snow laden mountains, all the way to the world's navel, Delphi!

The octo-final resolution is:
This house would require people to work in return for welfare payments.

The teams, prop first, opp second are:

Philippines v England
Australia v Netherlands
New Zealand v Wales
South Africa v Scotland
Peru v Greece
Canada v Ireland
Slovenia v Singapore
Korea Republic v Pakistan

YES!!!! It's the break

Here I am, blogging live from the St Catherine's School Hall, thanks to their IT department! Chief Adjudicator James Probert has just read out the names of the top 16 teams and wow, what match ups there will be at Delphi tomorrow. There's been a huge amount of cheering, especially for Team Greece.

Here is the break;
1. England 8 wins, 22 judges
2. Australia 8 wins, 21 judges
3. New Zealand 8 wins, 19 judges
4. South Africa, 7 wins, 20 judges
5. Peru, 7 wins, 20 judges
6. Canada, 7 wins, 19 judges
7. Singapore, 6 wins, 20 judges
8. Korea Republic, 6 wins, 19 judges
9. Pakistan, 6 wins, 19 judges
10 Slovenia, 6 wins, 18 judges
11. Ireland, 6 wins, 16 judges
12. Greece, 6 wins, 16 judges
13. Scotland, 5 wins, 16 judges
14. Wales, 5 wins, 16 judges
15. Netherlands, 5 wins, 16 judges
16. Philippines, 5 wins, 14 judges.

The rankings are done by wins, then ballots or number of judges, then speaker points.

For the octo-finals at Delphi, the sides to be determined by coin toss, team 1 meets 16, 2 meets 15 and so on.

The line-ups are:
England v Philippines
Australia v Netherlands
New Zealand v Wales
South Africa v Scotland
Peru v Greece
Canada v Ireland
Singapore v Slovenia
Korea Republic v Pakistan.

Well, it's an early start tomorrow. The buses leave at 7:30 am. So it's good night from me and good night from the rest. Send your teams lots of texts, emails and positive thoughts!!!

Day 5 results

As we await the break party, here are the results for rounds 7 and 8.

I have rushed the results to get them to you - I think they are correct. I'll be back once the break night announcement has been made.

The mathematicians and pundits among you will by that time have worked it all out anyway....

Good luck to everyone!!!!

Claire

Round 0

The resolution for Round 0 was announced after 7 pm, Saturday evening once the sun had truly set, and the 4 debates began after 8 pm. These were held in various rooms in the hotel and many of the teams which were not debating in the round turned up to watch, providing the competing teams a generous and much appreciated audience. In our debate, (Namibia v Romania) two of the observing debaters cheerfully offered to be chairperson and timekeeper and the audience attentively listened to both teams.

Despite the noise from the hotel lobby below (which at one point necessitated our intervention ), from other youngsters staying in the hotel using the room as a cacophonous thoroughfare and from the clatter of the hotel staff as they went in and out of the lift and moved various large items behind us, the debaters prevailed!

For Round 0 results, click here

We're up to Day 3 already

Kia ora again and thanks for waiting for the results. Tonight, there has been a passng thunderstorm, a power blackout in the hotel during wine tasting (a term to be used loosely) for the WSDC adults while the debaters learned Greek dancing - and the usual connectivity battle with the Wifi.

Oh well, I guess it's been an interesting end to the most glorious day of sunshine to date. I was lucky enough to enjoy again the great food, company and debating at HAEF for rounds 5 and 6. We've been well served by the schools around Athens and it has been fantastic to return to the large school audience, such a vital component of Worlds.

Tomorrow is a day off - except for those who like me will be judging Round 0 but that isn't until after sundown when Shabbat ends, Israel being in Round 0, so it is to a large extent, a free day. This means time for laundry, completing a power point for a comet which is passing close by the earth this month, visting the free internet cafe in Syntagma Square (unlimited, free internet access) and the like.

As for the results of Day 3, here they are. I note that they are gracing other websites once I send them out so it's great that the news is getting out there. Don't be afraid to acknowledge this site as your source, and also to let me know of your own blogsites about the championship so I can feature them here.

Thanks everyone,

Claire

Results from Day 2

Another delightful day in Athens. Our group journeyed to HAEF (Hellenic American Educational Foundation) where we were feted and fed wonderfully.

Here are the results of Day 2.

Results for Day 1

Kia ora everyone. Day 1 of the championships took place in balmy weather in schools across Athens and the results are now in.

I know that this is the post for which you've been waiting, far more than for any report by me about the adjudication seminar or the fabulous opening night so I won't spend any more time keeping you in suspense. I apologize for the delay in getting the results out to you but internet connectivity at the hotel is poor and peripatetic, so I've been waiting for the small, fleeting window of opportunity to get this post out.

For the results, click here

Love from Athens,

Claire

Acropolis Now....

A view of the Acropolis from the roof garden of Hotel Stanley, taken half an hour before the shooting star

Kalimera from Athens. This place is amazing. It's supposed to be winter and strong sunlight is streaming through my window on the 5th floor of the Stanley. (Yes alright, it did rain yesterday but the rain was warm like an Auckland summer.) The generosity and hospitality of Effie and her people flows in abundance. And there is a legal roof garden at the hotel. I know. I've been there. And I know I'm allowed because Effie and Helen took me there and permitted me to run around, the usual thing when you let Kiwis loose. I took the photo just so you can see what a magnificent view will greet you from the rooftop - and the balconies of some of your rooms. About half an hour later, I was up there again, admiring the northern night sky when a shooting star arced briefly over the city and was gone.

The Athenian night sky was not as sparkling as the view from Effie's home outside Athens but still impressive. After staying at the Giannakouri palace for a few days, we moved into the Stanley two days ago and have now settled in, waiting for the rest of you. The metro station is right outside the hotel as is a fleet of polished yellow taxis and a kiosk that sells all manner of things including key ingredients for finals, like dark chocolate. Internet is available at the hotel for 20 euros for 500 minutes or 50 euros for a week. However, free internet access is available all over Athens and there is a hotspot not far from the hotel (and much closer besides!!) The hotel staff know everything about, well, everything and even took the time to courteously warn me about pickpockets before I descended into the roar of the crowd in the subway. And a 3 euro all day pass - pretty reasonable.

I've visited 5 of the host schools. They are eagerly awaiting their international guests and there will be a few wonderful surprises in the welcome you receive. But I'm sworn to secrecy.

Blogging again at WSDC

Hi everyone,

This is to let you know that I will be blogging again at Athens this year. In fact I am my way there now, sitting in the Plaza Premium Lounge at Singapore's Changi airport (my favourite) awaiting my flight to Athens in just under 4 hours and typing this post. Yay for free internet connections.

I am not on the CAP this year so the results may take a little longer. Please be patient - I will pester Chief Adjudicator James Probert and everyone else until I have the round by round results and then you will have them too.

One day, there will be live streaming of your favourite team by somebody technically gifted, (which won't be me obviously but I too look forward to the day.)

Kind regards to you all.


Claire