Defending champion New Zealand has qualified for the knock-out rounds of the 2010 World schools debating championships in Doha, Qatar.
New Zealand won the title in Athens last year.
New Zealand won six of its eight preliminary round debates, beating Slovakia, Estonia, the United States, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates and Romania, but losing narrowly to Israel and Australia.
It is in seventh position going into tomorrow's octofinals, in which it will debate the Netherlands. If it wins, the team will face either Ireland or Canada in the quarterfinals.
The five-person team is led by Maria English (Samuel Marsden Collegiate School) with Jasmin Moran (Chilton St James School), Josh Baxter (Auckland Grammar School), Nick Cross (Scots College) and Aria Newfield (St Cuthbert's College) comprising the rest.
New Zealand has had a great response from the judges and the local Qatari audiences, NZ Schools Debating Council's Christopher Bishop said.
"Every debate from this point on will be close but New Zealand's got a great track record at the competition which should serve the team well."
The championships have been held each year since 1988. This year's tournament involves 56 teams, including England, Scotland, India, Pakistan, the USA, South Africa, South Korea, and Japan.
New Zealand has won the tournament four times since 1988 (in 1991, 1992, 1995 and 2009), were runners-up in 2008, and hosted the competition in 1994.
