Debaters from all over the world are flocking in to Manila, Philippines. From 27 December 2011 to 4 January 2012, they assemble at De La Salle University (DLSU) to compete for the title of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds).

From under the roof of VDCH there will be the following debating society competing with around 400 teams from about 70 countries – all in a peaceful competition, the WUDC 2012 or DLSU Worlds:

• Berlin Debating Union: John Eltringham, Narendran Ramasendaran, Dessislava Kirova, Juliane Mendelsohn, Kai Dittmann, Matthias Winkelmann
• S.A.E.C.L.O. Greifswald: Rafael Heinisch, Ida Heidecker
• Debattierclub Mannheim: Jana Gilke, Katrin Sadroschinski
• Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg Mainz: Marietta Gädeke, Marcus Ewald
• Debattierclub München: Markus Dankerl, Wladi Jachtschenko
• Wortgefechte Potsdam: Mathias Hamann, Moritz Kirchner
• Debattierclub Stuttgart: Andreas Lazar, Sven Moritz Hein
• Debattierklub Wien: Florian Prischl, Leonhard Weese, Rosie Halmi, Christoph Jäger

Moreover, there are more debaters from Germany or German speaking countries supporting the judging pool, among them Isabelle Fischer, Jens Fischer, Henrik Maedler.

A detailed schedule will tell you what the Worlds debaters are up to (almost) any moment. Tomorrow, it’s the judges’ day – they may compete in the Masters’ Competition with a team mate from their country or country of their university. The proper competition does not start before day 3: Nine preliminary rounds in three days give the teams the chance to gather points: 3 for a won, 0 for a lost round, summing up to a maximum of 27 points after prelims. The most points will take the teams to break rounds. There are three categories for debaters according to their English skills: main break, ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language). To learn more about the categories, please read the constitution of the WUDC. Main break-speakers will have to do octos, quarters and semis before making it to the grand final.

Day 6 will give most of the debaters a little chance for recreation – no competitive debates. Still, some have to work: They will have to sit as delegates at the WUDC Council where decisions are discussed and made, a new president may be elected – currently it’s Germany’s Jens Fischer -, plus, they will have to confirm the convenor of WUDC 2013: Berlin! January 2 and 3 will be the hardest days: Out-rounds are on, with ESL, EFL and Grand Finals. Before everybody will be leaving on Janaury 4, the world will see three new world champions in those categories.

Follow Achte Minute on Twitter for current news on the DLSU Worlds – hashtag #WUDC. Support our coverage of the Worlds: Help our correspondent Florian Prischl, send us e-mails to team [at] achteminute [dot] de or direct messages on Twitter. Wanna watch WUDC debates online? Then tune in to iDebate – they livestream debates from all rounds.

Since 1981, debaters from all over the world have been competing at the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) at alternating locations across the planet. It was not before 1996 that the British Parliamentary Style became the mandatory format for this annual tournament. From 27 December 2011 to 4 January 2012, the international debating community assembles in Manila for the second time: 1999’s host was Ateneo University in the Philippinian capital – the first time for WUDC to come to Asia at all. Language of debate is English and there are three categories: “Main” for native speakers, “ESL” (English as a Second Language) and “EFL” (English as a Foreign Language). Current World Champions are Monash A from Australien (“main break”), Haifa A from Israel (ESL) and Tokyo B from Japan (EFL).