'Somehow we've done it': Bangladesh clinches the World Cup of debating

BRAC University A consisting of Sourodip Paul and Sajid Asbat Khandaker has clinched the coveted championship title at the Belgrade World University Debating Championship 2022. The tournament is often dubbed the "Debating World Cup". 

They are the first South Asians to have achieved this honour. Previously, one of the members, Sajid had also won the Asian British Parliamentary in 2017. As Sourodip said, "Feels unreal. We never thought this was possible. Language barriers and so many other factors against us but somehow we've done it."

Before reaching the finals, BRAC A broke 5th in the open category, a new record for Bangladesh breaking the previous one which was also held by the dynamic duo. Sajid and Sourodip were the 2nd and 6th best ESL (English as Second Language) speakers of the tournament. Sajid was also the 10th best individual open speaker of the tournament. 

Their opponents in the open final were Princeton University, the National University of Singapore, and Ateneo de Manila University. The final debate on reducing the global reliance on the US dollar was streamed live on the Belgrade WUDC Live Streams Facebook page.