Vini. Vidi. Vici.

I'll have to admit, I thought I was going to be just another tournament.

Looking at the teams that have registered, I thought we'd definitely be able to break into the Quarter-finals. At most, make it to the Semi-finals. However....

After screwing up my speech during the second round, I didn't think we'd have a chance. But we won that round. Things started to look better. But then again...

We lost the fourth round. Damn it! The next round was supposed to be silent. I was starting to accept the fact that we might not break after all. I'm sorry guys, I blew it. This time, it's definitely my fault.

Come Break Night..

"...and breaking 5th....KBM MOSBY!!!"

Oh, thank God..We broke!

There was still no reason to celebrate yet, we still had the Quarter finals to worry about.

And then Azim said to me, "I wanna see you win Arau Open. So I can die happy". Jeez, thanks for the pressure, much? Yeah, piece of cake...no problem, yo!.... NOT!

Quarters was versus IIUM. Quite undoubtedly, the most annoying and ignorant team in the tournament. Motion : This House Would Not Protect Greece's Economy. We were the Affirmative and we knew jack shit about the topic. God bless Noel and his WikiBrain. During the debate, the IIUM team kept on screaming "Shame! Shame!". Their complete lack of vocabulary skills annoyed me to the core. To add to it, they talked as loudly as I did DURING my speech. The nerve!!! Noel snapped, I snapped and more importantly, Addy snapped. Holy crap, they're annoying. Right there and then, I decided that if we lose to this team, I'd shoot myself. We debated our hearts out and yes, we won. S-H-A-M-E on you!

We sailed through the Semi-finals. Motion : TH Supports an Electoral System Based on Proportional Representation. No, we didn't win because the other team sucked, but because we were mostly running on adrenalin. This was my favourite round of the tournament. I was actually sure we were going to win. The finals was so close, we could see it, and we wanted it bad! and plus, I had to make sure Azim dies happy. LOL.

And then came finals. My worst nightmare had come true. We were up against UT Mara Shah Alam. The titans of the debating scene in M'sia. Oh dear God, help us through this. We were the Negative. Somehow, NOT being the Affirmative makes me feel a lot better. Motion : THW Command South Korea Armed Forces to Seek Military Reprisals Against North Korea.

Noel was SUPERB!

Addy was AWESOME!

I was pretty confident at that point. However, UT Mara had some convincing points as well. This was going to be tough. My stomach did flips every time I think about the results and it didn't help that we had to eat dinner first, listen to the BM finals first and a bunch of speeches. Ughh, I was a nervous wreck!

...the Champion for the English category of AROPSDEC 2010 is...

Universiti Teknologi Mara Kampus Bandaraya Melaka!

I couldn't believe my ears. Actually, I was pretty sure that I was in complete shock until Addy grabbed my shoulders and yelled "Finz, WE WON!!! WE WONN!!!"

Tears almost streamed down my face...but I held it in.

The moment I held that trophy in my hands, then it became real, only then did it not seem like a dream.

Noel and Addy, I'm truly honoured that we won this together! If I were allowed to choose when I wanted to win, and who I wanted my team mates to be, I would've chosen this exact moment and the both of you as the ones I share this with. Jebus is ours!!

Azim, thanks for being there throughout all the losses, the heartaches and the bitching I supplied in every tournament. You're the best and this trophy is as much yours as it is ours...you're truly a gem.

credits to Areej for the photo.