the quarter finals of the World Debating Championships in Sydney, Australia.

The group of youngsters -- Nicholas Pacheco and Nicole Pinder of Mount St.

Agnes, Charles Souza of Bermuda Institute, and Rahsan Smith of Berkeley Institute -- needed to win against a team from the Czech Republic in order to make it to the quarter finals, a feat which has escaped local teams so far.

Up until Monday's debate against the Czech team, Bermuda's chances looked promising.

The local students, aged 16 to 17, beat Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, England, and the US.

And while they lost to two top debating teams -- Scotland and Australia, they only missed out on a victory against the Czech Republic by margins of one point according to two of the three judges.

Bermuda Debate Society chairman Terry Lister said the team was "devastated''.

But he quickly faxed off a letter to tell them how proud he was of their performance.

Based on the team's achievements, Mr. Lister added, Bermuda should be well prepared for next year's ninth World Championships to be held here.

Australian coach Chris Erskine said the local team had done "extraordinarily well by any standards''.

He noted that Nicholas had delivered "the best reply speeches of any team'' and Rahsan had captivated the large audience of senior secondary school boys at the US debate.

"If you were to praise them, you would be telling no lies,'' Mr. Erskine said. "The Bermuda-USA debate was the best I had seen in the tournament.

"While I can understand their disappointment in not making the quarter finals, they were more than eligible to do so on the basis of ability and performance, at the moment they can't see just how well they have done in the last few days.'' The team, which is accompanied by judge Elizabeth Virgo and coach Gladstone Thompson, is expected to return home by the end of the week.

Mr. Lister said a reception will be held for the debaters at a later date.

EDUCATION ED