The Cambridge IV 2017 preliminary rounds concluded similar to the Oxford IV, with Tel Aviv AD again breaking first, this time on 13 points. Dan Lahav again topped the open speaker tab – this time accompanied by Darion Hotan of KCL A, both averaging an 83.6 that begged belief. Dan Lahav was once again the top ESL speaker. Xavier Redmond, of Oxford RK, was the top novice speaker with an average of 79.

In the final round, Tel Aviv AD (Ayal Hayut-Man, Dan Lahav) won from Opening Government defending the motion that “This house believes that it is always immoral to fight for one’s country.” In Opening Opposition was Stanford B (David Slater, Camilo Ruiz); in Closing Government, KCL A (Darion Hotan, Sam van Elk); and in Closing Opposition, Oxford C (Louis Collier, Bryan Yan).

Judging the debate was chair Harish Natarajan, accompanied by Michael Dunn Goekjian, Ameera Natasha Moore, Katie Heard, Owen Mooney, Gavin Tucker, and Duncan Crowe.

ESL winners Melda Eren & Philipp Mueller – © Philipp Mueller

In the ESL Final, Munich A (Melda Eren, Philipp Muller) won from Closing Government regretting “the use of the term “moderate muslim” by Muslims to identify themselves.” The motion was presented by an Opening Government of Belgrade A (Miloš Marjanović, Aleksandra Mihajlovic), and opposed by Opening Opposition SNSPA A (Andrei Olaru, Serban Pitic) and Closing Opposition Oxford D (Vikki Perijainen, Ana Vilhelmina Verdnik).

Thomas Simpson chaired the ESL Final, with a panel of George Clay, Etsuko Lim, Matt Hankin, Matt Hazell, Ian Wu, and Lucía Arce.

The Chief Adjudication Team of the Cambridge Intervarsity consisted of Ameera Natasha Moore, Etsuko Lim, Michael Dunn Goekjian, and John Papantoniou.

Open break:
1. Tel Aviv AD (Dan Lahav, Ayal Hayut-Man) – 13 points
2. Durham A (Rory Flynn, Tejaswini Krishnaprasan)
3. BPP (Jamie Jackson, Muhammad Asadullah Khan) – 12 points
4. KCL A (Darion Hotan, Sam van Elk)
5. Tel Aviv IM (Ido Kotler, Monica Forman)
6. Stanford A (Bobbi Leet, Harry Elliott)
7. Edinburgh CW (Kaity Crowe, Henry Weikel)
8. Oxford B (Lee Chin Wee, Jason Xiao) – 11 points
9. Oxford TL (Teck Wei Tan, Sophie Large)
10. Edinburgh A (Nish Hedge, Tim Squirrell)
11. LSE A (Miko Alazas, Razzaq Fazail)
12. LSE B (Sarah Tay, Ciara Mitchell)
13. Yale TaSh (Marina Tan, Arun Sharma) – 10 points
14. Oxford C (Louis Collier, Bryan Yan)
15. Stanford B (David Slater, Camilo Ruiz)
16. St Andrews A (Dan Roberts, Malcolm Risk)

ESL break:
1. HSE Moscow (Ivan Velentey, Danil Kustin) – 10 points
2. IIUM A (Khalis bin Khalid, Shitab Daiyan Akash)
3. Munich A (Melda Eren, Philipp Muller) – 9 points
4. Belgrade A (Miloš Marjanović, Aleksandra Mihajlovic)
5. SNSPA A (Andrei Olaru, Serban Pitic)
6. Riga RR (Edvards Rutkis, Rasmuss Filips Geks)
7. Oxford D (Vikki Perijainen, Ana Vilhelmina Verdnik) – 8 points
8. GUU A (Julie Nyerges, Noémie Gauthier)

Breaking judges were: Lucia Arce, Daniel Berman, Stela Braje, Michael Coleman, George Clay, Coco Collard, Cameron Cross, Duncan Crowe, Julia Davis, Lydia Day, Janko Djordjevic, Alasdair Donovan, Michael Dunn Goekjian, Imogen Edwards-Lawrence, Niamh Egleston, Emily Frizell, Matt Hankin, Matt Hazell, Emily Hu, Katie Heard, Toshiaki Ikehara, Joy Jia, Patricia Johnson-Castle, Etsuko Lim, Nicole Liu, Beth Mallen, Imran Mateo, Ella McLoughlin, Owen Mooney, Tudor Musat, Ameera Natasha Moore, John Papantoniou, Richard Ngo, Harish Natarajan, Parnian (Penny) Sadeghi, Bailey Reid, Trenton Sewell, Andrew Seow, Thomas Simpson, Jack Stanley, Ryan Tartre, Gavin Tucker, Milan Vignjevic, Ian Wu, Nick Zervoudis.

Motions:

Round 1: This house would give companies tax breaks on all revenues paid as renumeration (salaries and bonus) to all female employees

Round 2: This house regrets the substitution of digital entertainment (e.g. tv, movies, video games) for written materials (e.g. novels, Kindle, comic books) in the lives of children

Round 3: This house believes that former human rights activists under dictatorial regimes should not seek elected office (e.g. MP) after the transition to democracy

Round 4: This house prefers a world in which all religions believe in Universal Salvation
Round 5: This House regrets the rise of Xi Jinping

ESL Semifinal: This house believes that criminal justice systems should never incorporate retribution as an aim in determining criminal punishments

Quarterfinal: This house would force all companies worth over $1 billion to list publicly

ESL Final: This house regrets the use of the term “moderate muslim” by Muslims to identify themselves

Semifinal: In cases where a supreme court would currently rule on the compliance of a given law with a constitutional provision, This house would hold a public referendum on whether to abandon that constitutional provision

Final: This house believes that it is always immoral to fight for one’s country

The tab team was as follows: Calum Worsley, Roxana Legezynska, Steven Roy, Alex Murray, and Isabel Nimmo.

The tournament was convened by Imran Mateo.

byb./jm.