Romania came out second at the recent World University Academic Debate Championship in India. The two Romanians which were part of the winning team, Radu Cotarcea (in picture) and Octavian Buta, competed against hundreds of teams from around the world. Romania was represented by three teams.

Radu Cotarcea also ranked 6th among best debaters in the world. This is the third time has attended this competition, after having won the title for best debater in Romania.

The championship took place in Chennai, India, between December 26 and January 4.

Romania won the world title for debate at this competition in 2009.

The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) is the world's largest debating tournament, and one of the largest annual international student events in the world. The current World Champions are Josh Zoffer and Ben Sprung-Keyser representing Harvard University, breaking a streak of three championships in a row by Monash University from 2011-2013.

The English as a Second Language (ESL) competition was won by Dessislava Kirova and Kai Dittmann of Berlin Debating Union. The championship has been held since 1981.

Radu Cotarcea has won various medals at top debating competitions, such as the European Universities Debating Championship, Oxford Intervarsity, Budapest Open, Yale vs UBB, and others. Apart from his debating activity, he is currently working within the legal sector, as the Marketing Manager for Emerging Europe and Latin America at Legalis, in Budapest.

editor@romania-insider.com