January 9, 2012, Updated September 11, 2012

Brothers Omer and Sela Nevo – both Tel Aviv University students — are this year’s winners in the English as a Second Language (ESL) division of the World Universities Debate Championships.

More than 3,000 teams from around the world participated in the competition, which was held in Manila.

“This is a very important achievement for the Tel Aviv University and the State Israel,” Yoni Idov, the team’s trainer and himself a past winner, told Ynet.

Two University of Haifa students took first place in the same contest last year.

The World Universities Debate Championship is dubbed as the “Olympics of debating” and is an annual gathering of the world’s best debaters and public speakers. More than 1,400 participants from some 70 countries take part in this year’s contest.

The Nevo brothers arrived at the World Championship with another top win under their belts – they are currently the European Debating Champions as well.

“This is the second time we have won a competition whose sole purpose is to hold a cultural dialogue and we’re showing the world the cultured Israeli who knows how to express himself in an eloquent and determined manner,” they were quoted as saying in Ynet.

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