On Friday 26 September 2014, eleven students from the debating club competed in the Credit Suisse Cup, organised by Debate Mate. The ‘A’ Team finished in second place overall. Below is a report from a member of that team, Ali Nasiri (8F).
We arrived at Canary Wharf around 11am. Once there, we were escorted to the auditorium by some staff members. After a short introduction, the debates were announced, and Isleworth ‘A’ (consisting of me, Sohrab Sayedi, Paavandeep Merbay, Pavan Vara and Isa Khan) competed against Prendergast ‘B’. We debated whether Aerial Combat Drones should be banned, and won by two points. Our ‘B’ team lost their debate by only two points in a close-fought battle.
Our team was then taken into the auditorium for the second debate, where it was announced that we would face Clapton ‘B’. Unlike the first debate, this motion was unseen: ‘If superheroes really existed, they would be arrested.’ We went to the preparation room and had fifteen minutes to prepare. We won this debate and proceeded to the final.
For this last debate, we were given only seven minutes to prepare, and so we were in a hurry to get our points down. After a long debate on whether smoking-related illnesses should be treated or not, we narrowly finished in second place. It was a close debate but I concede that they made the better argument on the day. However, we were all very proud of our achievement.
Well done to all the boys who took part: Syed Bilal Bukhari, Matthew Grebot, Fahd Jadoon, Isa Khan, Pavandeep Merbay, Ali Nasiri, Dara Razaghi, Sohrab Sayedi, Shaan Tailor, Daniel Vakili and Pavan Vara.
Tags: 2014-15, Credit Suisse Cup, Debate Mate, Debating, Extra-Curricular
