Texas A&M at Qatar team wins Second Asian Arabic Debating Championship
Published Feb 16, 2023
Students from Texas A&M University at Qatar, a Qatar Foundation partner university, have won the second edition of the Asian Arabic Debating Championship, which was organized by QF member QatarDebate in collaboration with OmanDebate and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
The members of the winning team from Texas A&M at Qatar are captain Wisam Elsadig Gadam, Mohamed Khalid Ahmed, Moza Fahad Al-Kaabi , and Mohamed Al Buainain. Gadam and Ahmed were also placed among the top ten speakers at the championship.
As part of their preparations for the championship, the students worked on advancing their team strategy along with skills of analysis and presentation as debaters and speakers. They also organized mock debates on different types of motions with other participating universities and reached out to Qatar Debate coaches for questions and feedback.
The Texas A&M at Qatar debate team aims to compete in more tournaments globally. “We are proud of our achievements: winning the Sixth International Arabic Debating championship in 2022, and now the Asian Arabic Debating Championship,” Gadam said. “Participating in the 2nd Asian Debating championship has been a memorable experience. It has inspired us to continue to practice, and to grow as debaters and thinkers. We also hope to encourage more students from the university to step up to this challenge.”
Al Buainain said, “We have worked hard to ensure we are ready for this tournament. It was an unbelievable and unexplainable feeling to be there on the world-stage representing my university, and my country. We also got to meet and learn from other debaters from around the world. “At Texas A&M University at Qatar, we not only get the best engineering education, but also opportunities to develop our personalities and skills, which we can take with us when we join the workforce.”
The Asian Arabic Debating Championship, which was held in Muscat, Oman, saw the participation of 165 debaters representing 42 teams. The Princess Sumaya University for Technology team from Jordan won second place.
Abdulrahman Al Subaei, Outreach Programs Manager, QatarDebate, said, “We are proud to celebrate the accomplishments of our Education City teams, especially Texas A&M at Qatar. Comprised of skilled debaters, the members of this team have refined their abilities through years of participation in our programs, starting from their high school days. The dedicated training and development opportunities offered by QatarDebate have been instrumental in their success as university students and top-tier debaters."