Royals 2010-A baptism by fire

  So Royals has just concluded. Considering it was supposed to be one of the most prestigious intervarsity debate competition, he understandably had expectations. However, after going through the first day under a tent and debating in houses(literally), he quickly realised that those expectation were not going to be met. Nevertheless, the quality of the competition for the senior category was still much higher than any he has ever been involved in, even though 7 of the best teams that should've been in Royals were involved in WUPID.

  Of course, he should have been competing in the junior category, being a first year and a rookie at Uni level debating, but he teamed up with Nemala and Mell to compete in the senior category instead, which was what he wanted anyway. Being thrown into the deep end. At least now he knows what he'll be up against in the following years.

Round 1

THBT US should unilaterally abandon it's nuclear weapons

Unimas(gov) vs UT Mara(opp)

A clear win for UT Mara, who were eventual semifinalists. He had a proper education in debating for this one.

Round 2

THW not give mandatory death for its drug traffickers

USIM(gov) vs Unimas(opp)

A messy debate, with Unimas coming out tops. 

Round 3

TH would require users of online social networks to disclose their identity

Unimas(gov) vs UMS(opp)

Battle of the Borneos! A close debate with UMS edging Unimas for the win.

Round 4

THBT IMF should not interfere in the economic policies of the countries it gives loans to.

UMK(gov) vs Unimas(opp)

A debate where its clear both sides didn't really know what they were talking about. It was a silent round but he found out later that Unimas won this round.

  The eventual winners for the senior category were UM, who beat his personal favourite UKM in an intense final which was probably the best debate he has ever seen live. Its either this or the debate where UKM took on and beat UT Mara in the semifinal. Superb debates.

  For the junior category, the junior team from Unimas broke into the quarters, which was a big deal since the last time that happened was 5 years ago. They went up against an IIU junior team that weren't much better than the usual high school team, but progressed to the semis at the expense of the Unimas junior team that probably should've progressed instead.

  The finals for the junior team saw IIU beating UITM in a unanimous 7-0 decision. As you can probably tell it wasn't as close a debate as the senior final.

  As much as debating with the best of the best can be an eye opener, next year, he's probably going to stick to debating in his own league.