Written by: Viktor Vojnoski
The Austrian Autumn Debate Cup is an annual debate championship held in Graz, Austria´s second largest city. This year it was held from the 28th to the 30th of November. We arrived on Friday the 28th by Train from Vienna. We were representing Vienna and were divided into three teams, Vienna Red, Vienna White and Vienna Newcomers.
The first day consisted of two debates, and ended with an amazing six wins, meaning all three teams won all rounds. The next day consisted of the last three inrounds, meaning rounds before the break. After these rounds we had the culture night, a tradition found in every debate tournament, where we represented Vienna. With Vienna being a very multicultural city, we included some Eastern-European and Balkan food. Immediately after, the break was announced, and all three teams broke. The newcomers went straight to the newcomer finals, while the other teams broke to the open semifinals.
On Sunday the semifinals took place at the same time as the open semifinals. After the semifinals, Team Red bowed out, while Team White made it to the finals.
The award ceremony was quite an experience, as not only had the newcomers won the newcomer finals, but Team White also won the finale and with that the whole tournament. After that the top 10 speaks were announced, with Vienna also dominating here, as seven of the top ten speakers were from the Vienna teams. All in all, this was an amazing tournament and an incredibly strong performance by Vienna.
Until next year!
