NZ wins world debating champs

The New Zealand team has won the World Schools' Debating Championship in Athens, Greece, after a convincing victory over England.

The team beat England by a 6-1 margin, proposing the motion "That all illegal immigrants should receive amnesty".

Speaking from Greece, team captain Maria English of Wellington's Samuel Marsden Collegiate told NZPA the win had capped off an exciting competition.

"It's fantastic, it's a great feeling," she said.

"The whole competition was the most amazing experience and getting the chance to represent our country has just been fantastic."

This morning's win over England was particularly satisfying as New Zealand suffered a heartbreaking 4-5 decision loss to their English counterparts in last year's final in Washington.

"It was a great rematch actually, and a really close debate as well," Ms English, daughter of Finance Minister Bill English said.

"You've got to be confident and you've got to believe in the team, which we did, but at the same time it's always so close, and England is such a great team."

Ms English, 17, and fellow 18-year-old teammates, Holly Jenkins, of Lower Hutt's Sacred Heart College, Jennifer Savage of Wanganui Collegiate, Tom Chen of Hamilton's Hillcrest High School and Ben Kornfeld of Auckland's King's College, had been kept busy since their win with phone calls and text messages from home.

"It's been really exciting and the support from back home has been great."

On the way to the final, the team defeated Singapore, Scotland, Canada, Wales, Peru, the Netherlands, Chile, Bangladesh and Germany.

It was the first time since 1995 that New Zealand had won the championships.

- NZPA