WSDC – Summary of Past Results

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL COMPILATION

In the past, the draw for the annual WSDC tournament have been based in part on the past sucess of countries. Countries are ranked and then paired against opponents with the intention that all teams face a similarly difficult set of nations.So I have used the same method that calculated WSDC 2011′s pre-tournament rankings to examine the records of countries over the three WSDC 2009-2011.

Previous publications of similar lists have caused some problems, but as I will not be attending WSDC 2012 in Cape Town and will no longer be eligible for WSDC 2013 in Turkey, I believe there is no conflict of interest. I am personally responsible for any errors and apologise in advanced. This list is not official and not 100% accurate, it is intended merely as a guide.

Using the Results for a country that has attended only one or even two WSDC tournaments reduces the accuracy of this summary. Nevertheless, I think the statistics give a good sense of where teams are placed. To make calculations easier, I averaged the results to assume each national team debated at all three WSDCs between 2009 and 2011.

The summary of how National Teams have fared based on WSDC 2009 – 2011 are displayed in the following format – Country, Total wins out of 24, Total judges out of 72

WSDC – Thank you

WSDC, although google insists stands for the World Swing Dance Council, will always invoke powerful memories of the one and only World Schools Debating Championships. First hearing about it in 2007, I began my WSDC journey back in 2009 with the Team Hong Kong trials. In January 2010, I headed to Doha, Qatar along with Ben, Prakash, Annette, Heather, Greg and Mr. Evershed where we broke by a whisker and made it to the octo-finals. Truly infected with the WSDC bug, 2011 meant an entirely new country, new school and a new WSDC team. Yes – I defected to Team Wales. After an elongated training period including a summer holiday, I headed to Dundee, Scotland in a train along with David, Sarah, Josephine and Johnny. Sadly, this campaign also ended at the octo-finals. Debating aside however, it was brilliant to be able to meet people from so many countries. Talking over a drink, on the bus and whilst playing pool; all part of the unforgettable experience we’ve had together. part and parcel of my WSDC experience of course has been they joys of blogging my way through it all.

During the campaign for WSDC 2010 and WSDC 2011, I’ve had the joy of representing 2 countries – Hong Kong and Wales, visited 2 countries – Doha, Qatar and Dundee, Scotland. After endless hours of training, I had 18 debates against 17 countries, given 22 speeches, at least 144 minutes of talking, lots of blogging, 11 wins, 38 ballots and 2 octo-finals. All good things come to a close and sadly I won’t be attending WSDC 2012.

The last two years have been a blast. I can’t thank enough the people who have helped me on this journey. Thank you and Goodbye!

WSDC 2011 – Unofficial Adjusted World Rankings

This is part of the WSDC 2011 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2011 in Dundee, Scotland as a debater, blogger and Wales national team member.

Following yesterday’s post regarding raw world rankings of the top 31 teams, I have adjusted the world rankings to take into account all 48 teams that have been identified as taking part in WSDC 2011. There are some high ranking teams which have not be confirmed to be participating, I have chosen to include them in the list, especially if they appear likely to either be collecting funds or on the waiting list. I have however placed them in italics.

As with last time, I have used the same method that calculated last year’s team pre-tournament rankings, having removed WSDC 2007 results and substituted them with WSDC 2010 results. Results for a country from only one or even two WSDC tournaments reduces the accuracy of these pre-tournament rankings. To make calculations easier, I averaged the results to assume each national team debated at all three WSDCs between 2008 and 2010 and ranked them by the number of debates they have won and the number of judges they have received.

Adjusted in leiu of the participation list recently announced, the WSDC 2011 World Rankings are, in the following format – Country, Total wins out of 24, Total judges out of 72:

WSDC 2011 – Unofficial World Rankings

This is part of the WSDC 2011 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2011 in Dundee, Scotland as a debater, blogger and Wales national team member.

At WSDC 2010, a total of 57 teams ultimately took part. WSDC 2011 has 350 spots open for registration, and despite registration being yet to open, they have announced a team cap of 44. It appears quite likely that the top 31 teams that appear in the World Rankings prior to WSDC 2011 will be attending WSDC 2011.

Using the same method that calculated last year’s team pre-tournament rankings, I have removed the results of WSDC 2007 and substituted them with WSDC 2010 results.

Results for a country from only one or even two WSDC tournaments reduces the accuracy of these pre-tournament rankings. And since the top 31 teams all conveniently won more than 3.333 debates at every WSDC they attended on average, I calculated only the results for the top 31 WSDC teams. The are ranked based upon average wins per WSDC and average judges per WSDC. Only in one case have I had to move on to total number of wins at WSDC 2010 and total number of judges at WSDC 2010. To make calculations easier, I averaged the results to assume each national team debated at all three WSDCs between 2008 and 2010.

The World Rankings or pre-tournament rankings for National Teams based on WSDC 2008 – 2010 are displayed in the following format – Country, Total wins out of 24, Total judges out of 72

Year in Review

NOTE: While writing this post, an interesting observation came to mind. The many highlights of my year, as recognized in this post, also popped up on a regular basis in the annual list of ‘Top Post of the Year‘.

The start of this decade, the year 2010 can most accurately called a year of transition. It may have lasted only for 12 months, but it sure fells like I’ve done a heck of a lot of stuff in that time.

By the start of the year, preparations were in full swing for WSDC 2010 in Doha, Qatar. We had long hours of preparation, debates and meetings, often going from 5pm to 10pm in our little SIS hide-out. But we nevertheless felt quite prepared as we set off for Doha in Feb 2010. WSDC itself was a joy and an honor as can be gathered from my WSDC Reflection. We didn’t get to the quarters, but lost gallantly to Australia in the Octo-finals and everyone on the team ranked in the top 50 speakers. Coming in 45th in such a competitive and tough year was delightful. Many thanks to Annette, Ben, Heather, Prakash and Greg who taught me so much.
10 months later in Dec 2010, I transitioned from Team Hong Kong to Team Wales and once again, I’ll hopefully be blogging all the way to WSDC 2011 in Dundee, Scotland.

Domestically, I was able to graciously bow out of HK Debating with sweet victory in the Grand Final of the 25th Sing Tao Inter-School Debating Competition after loosing out in 2008-2009. We also saw the beginning of the Hong Kong Schools Debating Council in April 2010 with the website http://hksdc.wordpress.com still going strong after overtaking PaulLau.com in about half the time.

The Hong Kong Schools Debating Council launched at http://hksdc.wordpress.com/. Register at http://bit.ly/azLiq6—
Paul Lau (@paullaucm) April 20, 2010

It was just before the Sing Tao finals that I received an unassuming phone call notifying me that I had been accepted to UWC Atlantic College in the UK, sparking the biggest transition of this year, and certainly of my life so far.

Despite this, I still had my remaining IGCSE exams to finish, themselves stretching from late April to late May. I had to wait all summer for the results to come out. When they did, they didn’t really come as a surprise with a string of poor runs together with the odd gem. It was a tough pill to swallow, but by then I’d had the IB to worry about.

My home away from home - Morgannwg

That was because I was many miles away in South Wales, starting at Atlantic College. By all counts, it hadn’t been an easy transition. I’d been studying at South Island School for a full five years now and the things that the time has build are things not easily replaced. My last moment with the class of 2012 was a Dinner Dance 2010. It not only marked an end, but featured a first, the first time I participated in a ‘dance’, if you can call it that.

When one door closes, another opens. And so in late August, I transitioned many miles, from HK to the UK to begin my studies at UWC AC

Goodbye Hong Kong. 10 years is a long time, but I enjoyed every moment of it! I'll be back in December. See you all then!—
Paul Lau (@paullaucm) August 20, 2010

2011 will see fewer changes and a whole lot more of building upon existing structures. Hopefully though, it will be just a colorful as 2010.

Top Posts of the Year

We’ve just turned a corner and now are in 2011. PaulLau.com is now 16 months old and still going strong with over 23,000 views and over 180 posts. 2010 was my first full year of blogging and featured all the expected ups and downs. Here’s a round up of the top posts of 2010.

Notably in 2010 was the WSDC 2010 series covering the 2010 World Schools Debating Championships in Doha, Qatar which featured 29 posts and stole 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th spot in this Top Posts of the Year list. Whether a result of reader interest or just because it was the most common topic on my blog, debating related posts took 7 out of the top 10 and 15 out of the top 20 posts of 2010.

1. 2010 World Cup Broadcasting [1ST ALL TIME]

This post came out in March, when the issue was gaining considerable media attention. Interestingly enough, come May, the issue was the topic of the Sing Tao Grand Final (see the 10th Top Post). The issue may have been resolved for now, but it won’t be until 2014 before we know if the stations have truly resolved similar disputes.

2. WSDC – Final Rankings [3RD ALL TIME]

Part of the WSDC 2010 series, this post was the culmination of more than a weeks of debating. It brings together the team and individual results of the 2010 WSDC and by-in-large drew to a close WSDC 2010 for PaulLau.com

3. The Story Behind Football Shirt Swapping [4TH ALL TIME]

During my IGCSE Media Studies revision, I stumbled upon a New York Times Article that detailed the story behind the tradition of Shirt Swapping in Football.

4. WSDC – Results [5TH ALL TIME]

Part of the WSDC 2010 series, this post had the immediate results following the Closing Ceremony. It helped provide instant information before the WSDC – Final Rankings post (see the 2nd Top Post) replaced it.

5. UWC Principal Personnel Changes [6TH ALL TIME]

Shortly after Neil Richard’s ‘resignation’ was announced, there was a lot of furor within UWCs around the world about Principal resignations, changes and departures. As a result, I summarized the 3 principal changes at LPC, AC and MI.

6. WSDC – Break [7TH ALL TIME]

Part of the WSDC 2010 series, it took a while for me to calm down after learning that HK would break into the Octo-finals. But once I did, I was able to posts the full break, frantically copied down during a few tense minutes at the WSDC 2010 Break Night Party.

7. WSDC – Round 1-4 Team Results [8TH ALL TIME]

Part of the WSDC 2010 series, the results after round 1, 2, 3 and 4 representing the mid-way mark at WSDC 2010.

8. WSDC – Final Draw [9TH ALL TIME]

Part of the WSDC 2010 series, this is one of the few top posts related to the run-up to WSDC 2010. Indeed, many readers were first notified of their countries draw through this post.

9. Hong Kong Schools Debating Council [10TH ALL TIME]

After many frantic hours of work, messaging and coding on wordpress, me and Heather finally managed to cobble together the HKSDC website at http://hksdc.wordpress.com. The website and the organization, the Hong Kong Schools Debating Council was successfully launched in April.

10. Sing Tao Grand Finals 2010

This Grand Final was not only my last Sing Tao debate, it was also my last debate in Hong Kong and for South Island School. It capped a wonderful journey that really began at the Sing Tao Grand Final in 2006 and ended on the 4th May. Thank you to everyone that I’ve had the joy of sharing the journey with.

Honorary Mentions

11. Tabbing Software
12. HK Bid for 2023 Asian Games
13. WIDPSC Day 1 & 2
14. 10 Things to do if you Finish Exams Early
15. WIDPSC 2010 – Lithuania
16. WSDC – Quarter & Semi-Final
17. WSDC – Round 3 & 4
18. WSDC – Aus vs HK Octofinal
19. WIDPSC 2010 – Results
20. Chinese Sport School System

Debate Diary

February was a rather eventful debating month, if only I say so because WSDC was held. You can read my full WSDC Review or check out all the related blog posts categorised in WSDC 2010.

I have also uploaded my WSDC photos to facebook which you can access, without logging in.
WSDC – Part 1 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=394090&id=710265216&l=0b54aed3a3
WSDC – Part 2 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=394105&id=710265216&l=74f5662dd2
WSDC – Part 3 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=394107&id=710265216&l=16700d01dd
WSDC – Part 4 : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=394108&id=710265216&l=ae7eea11e2

In addition to WSDC, both the local competition held matches with the 3rd prelim of the Sing Tao and the Grand Final of the Bar Association Debating Competition.

The 16 debates of the 3rd preliminary round were held on the 27th Feb 2010. South Island School progressed with a well deserved victory over Island School, landing itself a Quarterfinal spot. DGS, DBS, La Salle and St. Paul’s College all won their respective matches, making it into the Quarterfinals. The Quarterfinals will coincidentally be held on the 27th March 2010.

In the Bar Association Debating Competition, the DGS vs. SIS Grand Final was also held on the 27th at Hong Kong University. The lively debate engaged on the relative benefits and problems of double jeopardy and whether a second trial should be permitted. Ultimately, despite the close debate, DGS won 3-0 with summarizes Jody Luk (DGS) awarded Best Speaker.

With regards to the other international competition the WIDPSC 2010, the Hong Kong trials took place a few days before WSDC at South Island School. The Hong Kong World Individuals Debating and Public Speaking Championship team that is bound for Lithuania is :

Benjamin So

Tiffany Chung

Griffith Cheng

Geoffrey Liew

Sachin Sirvastava

Heather Pickerell

WIDPSC Representatives for Hong Kong 2010

WSDC 2010: Reflection

This is part of the WSDC 2010 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2010 from Doha, Qatar as a debater, blogger and Hong Kong national team member.

It has been a while since WSDC 2010 ended. I’ve finally got round to putting pen to paper when considering what this competition has been, so here it is.

It’s hard to put into words exactly how the 22nd World Schools Debating Championship in Doha, Qatar truly was. It was lavish and comfortable, tiring and exhilarating, and it was a wonderful learning experience as well as a brilliant social event.

The organisers set out to host the biggest and the best WSDC ever, I’m very doubtful if anyone says otherwise after those two weeks between the 8th and 18th of February 2010. Flushed with funding and more than enough resources, QatarDebate had additional adjudicators sponsored, top notch facilities and well thought-out plans laid out well before we even landed at the tiny Doha International Airport. From that point on, we always had someone there to help us, to set up and organiser for us and to make the event what it was. The Marriott Hotel, with its quite location, private beach and food tent covering two full tennis courts complete with chandeliers, was never going to be easy to beat. Although the rooms were found wanting in some respects, it was in now way below par or problematic for anyone living there.

The Last Good Meal

The lunch we had the day we arrived was jokingly titled ‘the last good meal’. How wrong we were. We discovered that the buffet which we thought was our last would merge into only the first in a whole two weeks worth of buffets. As much as we’d like to complain, it was delicious, varied and filled with Prakash’s favorite green leaves.

WordPress Craze

Ever since I first started blogging on WordPress way back in October last year, we have seen wordpress begin to snake its way through the community with WEUer on KennethChan.com and Heather Pickerell joining the blogsphere.

More recently however, I have seen what I can only describe as a ‘WordPress Craze’

First there was fellow debater and SISer Tiffany Chung’s new blog titled ‘Tiffany Chung’s Blog’. She’s known to have a lot to say and way too many opinions, so maybe this may spare our ears.

Then there came another debater, this time from Queens College Hong Kong, as Benjamin So launched his blog ‘Put into Perspective’. The self described

epitome of the typical Asian student – Chinese, bookish, arrogant, ignorant and career-minded.

During WSDC itself, I helped the gaffe loving ‘funny’ guy to set up a blog of his own after he saw mine. Micheal.com from Michael Nauta himself provides a Namibian perspective that looks to shake things up and provide a good humorous time.

Happy Blogging Guys! Best of Luck!

WSDC 2010 – Videos

This is part of the WSDC 2010 series as I recount and report on the World School Debating Championship 2010 from Doha, Qatar as a debater, blogger and Hong Kong national team member.

WSDC 2010 Doha may have concluded, but it’s time to review some of the highlights.

First, here is a finalized list of all the Awards handed out, after the organizers finally filled in the ‘Results‘ page of http://www.wsdc2010doha.com/.

Videos

In addition, videos of the event are starting to pop up, I will continue to post them here as they appear.
You can see two full debates that people have uploaded. The first is round 6 between Canada and England (http://www.youtube.com/user/debaterandskeptic#p/u). The second is round 8 between Nepal and Mongolia (http://www.youtube.com/user/hobbyscience#p/u)

Opening Ceremony

School Performances
School Performances