The Grand Final of the Asian Alliance Insurance DC Schools League 2009 was held on the 15th of December at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).
Attorney General, President's Counsel Mr. Mohan Peiris, graced the occasion at the Chief Guest, while Ms. Nadi Dharmasiri, AGM - Marketing at Asian Alliance Insurance PLC (the title sponsor of the tournament) graced the occasion as Guest of Honor.
The Final, between Wesley College and Bishop's College turned out to be a hotly contested affair with the debate being of the highest quality. The motion for the final was "This House Believes that 'Responsibility to Protect' should be the base principle of the modern United Nations." Bishop's College proposed the motion while Wesley College opposed.
The adjudicators considering both sides, decided on a 4-1 split in favor of Wesley College. Hence Wesley College became the CHAMPIONS of the League.
The adjudicators at the grand final were Mr. Mohammed Adamaly, Mr. Thushara Hettihamu, Mr. Anisha Yasaratne, Mr. Kumaravadivel Guruparan & Ms. Shamalie Jayatunga.
The two finalist teams were represented by
Wesley College
Maleen Jayasuriya (Captain)
Sithira Gunasekera
Chrisjit Xavier
Bishop's College
Sandaruwani De Silva (Captain)
Charuni Pathmeswaran
Wanya Gunawardena.
The following were the top speakers at the League (In Descending order)
Sandaruwani De Silva, Bishop's College - Most outstanding speaker
Yohan Senarath, Colombo International School
Michael Mendis, St. Joseph's College
Maleen Jayasuriya, Wesley College
Sanjit Dias, S. Thomas' College.
The event, the 1st major public event organized by the Debaters' Council on account of its now flagship tournament saw an attendance of over 100 students, teachers & well wishers from all over the country.
8 long months, 57 debates later. Wesley College has been crowned, the champion of champions in school level debating.
From the final rankings, Wesley College, Bishop's College, St. Joseph's College and S. Thomas' College will gain automatic qualification for The DC Schools League 2010, while the remaining schools will be relegated to qualify again at the Sri Lanka Schools Debating Championship 2010 to be held in February.
The Debaters' Council congratulates both finalists and all other participating teams for the high standard of debating displayed right throughout.
We wish to also thank Asian Alliance Insurance PLC for their support in this herculean effort
