This year’s 10th edition of the Hong Kong Debate Open 2020 will be held in December 2020 for 3 days and will be dedicated to the best high school debaters from across the world. The event does not have a registration fee and teams do not need to provide any team judges. All judges will be invited by the Organising Committee. Teams for this WSDC tournament will be selected based on a) whether you are a recognized WSDC National Team/WSDC National Development Team, b) Debate CVs of the teams, and c) diversity in the pool of teams.

Below is the full Tournament Information, as well as the Form for Team Registration. Please note that the Contact Persons registering each team must be an adult from recognized national teams and debate organisations.

Tournament Information/Registration Form:

1. Dates: 19th to 21st December 2020

2. Debate Format: WSDC

3. Tournament Capacity: 70 WSDC Teams ( 3 to 5 Debaters per Team)

4. Tournament Structure:

a) 7 Impromptu Preliminary Rounds, with 30 minutes of Preparation Time, over two days

b) Two Categories: i) National Team Category and ii) Open High School Category

c) Break to Octo Finals for the National Team Category and to the Quarter Finals for the Open High School Category

5. Registration Fee: Free for Selected Teams

6. Selection of Teams:

Selection of teams will be based on:

a) whether you are a recognized WSDC National Team/WSDC National Development Team,

b) Debate CVs of the teams, and

c) diversity in the pool of teams

7. Judge Requirement:

Teams do not need to provide any Team Judges

8. Adult Guardian Requirement:

All Teams must be accompanied by a team coach/team manager/parent/guardian authorized to safeguard the interest of the high school debaters

9. Tournament Online Platform: Zoom

10. Communication Platforms for Debaters/Judges:

Facebook Messenger Groups and WeChat Groups

11. Chief Adjudicator Panel (CAP):

CA — Professor Joshua Park of Korea/USA, CA of Macau WSDC 2021, Solbridge International School of Business, Korea

Co-CA — Tasneem Elias of Sudan, CAP of WSDC 2018, QatarDebate, Qatar

Co-CA — Brian Wong, Hong Kong

DCAs will be announced in the coming weeks

12. Tabulation Director: George Chen, China

13. Digital Director: Vũ Anh Tuấn, Vietnam

14. Registration Director: Eunice Li, Hong Kong

15. Executive Director: Loke Wing Fatt, Singapore

16. Full Schedule (We start at 2.30pm, Singapore Time/Hong Kong Time, UTC +8)

19th December 2020, Saturday

2:30pm to 3pm Roll Call of Debaters and Judges

3pm to 3.15pm Opening Ceremony & Introduction of the CAP/Tab Team/Digital Director

3.15pm to 4pm Technical Briefing for Debaters/Judges

4pm to 6.30pm Round 1

6.30pm to 9.00pm Round 2

9.00pm to 11.30pm Round 3

20th December 2020, Sunday

2:30pm to 3pm Roll Call of Debaters and Judges

3pm to 3.15pm Announcements

3.15pm to 5.30pm Round 4

5.30pm to 7.30pm Round 5

7.30pm to 9.30pm Round 6

9.30pm to 11.30pm Round 7 (Silent)

11.30pm Break Announcements

21st December 2020, Monday

2:30pm to 3pm Roll Call of Breaking Teams and Judges

3pm to 5pm National Octo-Finals/Open High School Quarter Finals

5pm to 7pm National Quarter Finals/Open High School Semi-Finals

7pm to 9pm National Semi-Finals/Open High School Grand Final

9pm to 10.30pm National Grand Final

10.30pm to 11pm Award Presentation & Closing Ceremony

17. Registration Form:

Please click on the link below to register before 7th November 2020:

18. For clarifications:

Please write to the Inbox of our Facebook Page or contact Loke Wing Fatt by email at [email protected] or by Facebook at

Loke Wing Fatt Executive Director