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July 22 – August 1, 2025 – Team India, under the banner of the Indian Schools Debating Society (ISDS), has won the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) 2025 in Panama, defeating Australia in the grand final with a unanimous 9–0 decision. This marks India’s first world title since 2019 and reinforces its standing as one of the leading nations in competitive debating.

The 2025 team brought together five accomplished debaters: Uday Vir Khosla from The Shri Ram School, Moulsari; Veda Kalra from Vasant Valley School; Avni Chadha from Emerald Heights International School; Manveer Pratap Rathore, also from Emerald Heights; and Arnav Agarwal from Pathways School. Their efforts were recognized not just through the championship but also on the individual speaker tab. Uday was ranked second-best open speaker and best ESL speaker of the tournament, Veda placed third-best open and second-best ESL speaker, and Avni placed fourth-best open and third-best ESL speaker.

The coaching team was a combination of home grown talent and expertise from around the world; Heading the Coaching team was Lucia Arce Cubas, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who was joined by Chris Mentis Cravaris, a law student at Oxford University; S Sriram, currently at IIM Bangalore pursuing an MBA; and Ananya Ganesh, a Team India alumnus now pursuing Applied Mathematics (Economics) and History at Harvard College.

India’s campaign demonstrated consistency and control across the tournament. In the preliminary rounds, the team faced New Zealand, Estonia, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Australia, England, Pakistan, and the USA, finishing with a 7–1 record to place third overall. In the knockout stages, they advanced past New Zealand in the octofinal, Bangladesh in the quarterfinal, and Hong Kong in the semifinal, before securing the title against Australia.

This achievement builds on strong performances in previous years. In both Vietnam (2023) and Serbia (2024), Team India had finished the preliminary rounds undefeated at 8–0 but exited during the knockout stages. The experience from those campaigns contributed to the preparation and focus that defined their 2025 success.

Beyond this single achievement, the Indian Schools Debating Society continues to serve as the foundation for India’s presence on the global debating stage. Through a structured selection process, intensive training camps, and mentorship from experienced alumni and coaches, ISDS has developed a pipeline that prepares students not only for competition but for excellence. The 2025 title stands as evidence of how this long-term investment in talent and infrastructure is shaping a new era for Indian debating.