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New Zealand Wins World Debating Championships
Thursday, 19 February 2009
The New Zealand team has won the World Schools' Debating Championship in Athens, Greece, after a convincing victory over England.
(via Stuff) The team beat England by a 6-1 margin, proposing the motion "That all illegal immigrants should receive amnesty".
On the way to this morning's final, New Zealand defeated Singapore, Scotland, Canada, Wales, Peru, the Netherlands, Chile, Bangladesh, and Germany.
The win over England was particularly satisfying as New Zealand suffered a heartbreaking 4-5 decision loss to their English counterparts in last year's final.
New Zealand Schools' Debating Council spokesman Christopher Bishop said winning the title was an amazing achievement and reflected months of hard work.
"This victory proves that New Zealand has some of the brightest and most articulate young people in the world", said Mr Bishop.
It was the first time since 1995 that New Zealand had won the championships.
The team was made up of captain Maria English , Holly Jenkins, Jennifer Savage, Tom Chen and Ben Kornfeld
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