Top Honor in International Varsity Debate Won by WHU Debater
Published:10-26-2011Author:Qin ZunluViews:826
Chen Ming Honored “Best Individual Debater”
On October 22, Chen Ming, from Wuhan University, won the Best Individual Debater in the native Chinese speaker division at the 2011 International Varsity Debate. It was the second time for WHU to win top honors in the premiere Chinese debate competition. Last year WHU was declared champion in the 2010 International Varsity Debate. However, this year’s debate was different from the previous ones, as there was no overall champion in the competition. Instead, judges awarded an "Excellent Individual Debater" for each section and one “Best Individual Debater” for the whole competition.
Chen Ming (the 2rd one on the right) honored 'Best Individual Debater'(from the CCTV News)
On October 18, the WHU team, the only one from central China, debated against the University of Malaya team on ''Whether idol worship is beneficial for children’s growth" During the debate, three competitors from each team delivered their speeches from differing social perspectives. Each round, one member would be eliminated. Chen Ming from WHU maintained to persevere even when challenged by the famous Taiwanese Debater Huang Zhizhong, and had demonstrated superior elocution and quick wit. In the end, Huang Zhizhong was forced to change his topic, and later gave a high praise to Chen’s "excellent answer". After three rounds, Chen Ming was judged the best due to his amazing performance.
After the final vote by the judges, Chen Ming won the "Best Individual Debater" among all the native competitors, and Wang Xuemei from the University of Heidelberg was judged the best among non native speakers. Yu Qiuyu, one of the judges and also a famous Chinese writer, said, "These two debaters are probably the best in the world. Therefore, we judges are all delighted to get to know them."
Chen Ming says this honor belongs to the whole team: Such a success can be attributed to the strong support WHU provided to the team the unremitting efforts of each team member of the team, and their cooperation during the competition. This will become a lasting memory for all the team members.
The 2011 International Varsity Debate was co-hosted by CCTV and Singapore’s Media Corp, and co-organized by CCTV Children’s Channel and the Department of Publicity of Qingdao Municipal Committee of CPC. Teams from 16 world-renowned universities including Harvard University, University of Nottingham, University of Heidelberg, University of Hong Kong and Taiwan University gathered in Qingdao for the competition. Many people credit the success of this year’s competition to its innovative platform, heated debate and thought-provoking topics.
