Adelaide Summer 2024

The tension of blindfolded solving demands pure concentration, where competitors must commit the entire puzzle state to memory before sliding on an eye cover and relying solely on tactile execution. At Adelaide Summer 2024, held from January 13 to January 14 at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, the 3x3x3 Blindfolded final delivered the weekend's most nail-biting showdown. Carlo Malagar captured first place with a single solve of 1:10.84, edging out Brock Hamann who finished in 1:11.42. Jonah Blakeley secured third place in 1:16.17, highlighting a disciplined field of 21 competitors where every fraction of a second in memorisation and recall mattered.

Beyond the silent intensity of the memory events, the cubing competition saw remarkable dominance across the standard puzzle categories. Over two days in Adelaide, 108 competitors gathered across 16 rounds in seven events. Australia took 19 podium places over the weekend while Vietnam claimed two, showcasing tremendous skill at the tables. Bryan Eng produced a near-clean sweep across the rest of the schedule, demonstrating complete command across various sizes and formats of the Rubik's Cube throughout the entire 2024 gathering.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube event drew 107 competitors across four stages of competition, culminating in a fast-paced final. Eng claimed the victory with a 7.16 winning average, supported by a best single of 6.52. Tu Pham of Vietnam took second place with a 7.60 average, while Australian solver Seth Ferry secured the bronze podium step with an 8.58 average. These decisive 3x3 results capped a weekend of consistent execution at the highest level of speedcubing in the South Australian capital.

Eng expanded his tally across the shorter and larger puzzles alike. In the 2x2x2 Cube final, Eng secured first place with an average of 2.16 and a 1.90 single, finishing ahead of Pham's 3.35 and Oliver Hutchinson's 3.44. In the Pyraminx, Eng again stood atop the podium with an average of 3.23 and a 1.43 single, followed by Hutchinson in second with 3.79 and Cody Driver in third with 4.16. Eng also set an individual round single of 0.96 and an average of 1.70 during the 2x2x2 rounds.

The mastery continued across the big cubes and technical disciplines. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Eng finished first with a 29.34 average and a 23.53 single, holding off Ferry, who clocked a 29.97 average, and Leo Hock-Morris, who finished third in 39.71. Eng took the 5x5x5 Cube title in 51.52 ahead of Ferry's 1:03.70 and Hock-Morris's 1:17.44. In the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, Eng logged an 11.38 average for the win, with Ferry finishing second in 14.03 and Adrian Oon taking third in 14.97.

Away from the top of the podium, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones in their personal speed cubing progression. Austin Caulfield entered six events and made a major breakthrough, logging a first ever attempt at 5x5x5 Cube in 3:19.87, dropping their 3x3x3 Cube personal best to 18.59, which was 41.5 percent faster than before, and lowering their 3x3x3 One-Handed best to 46.74, a 37.5 percent drop. Charlie Zukowski took on four events, completing a first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Cube in 1:36.65, while cutting 34.3 percent off their 3x3x3 personal best down to 13.09 and reducing their Pyraminx mark to 8.42.

Other competitors delivered equally impressive gains across the Adelaide tournament tables. Nicholas Kondrusik posted a first ever attempt at Pyraminx of 9.77, a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Cube of 18.86, and improved their 2x2x2 mark to 4.85. Oscar Hirsch logged a first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Cube of 1:57.94 alongside sharp personal bests of 13.12 in 3x3x3 Cube and 5.33 in 2x2x2 Cube. Aaryan Longo dropped their 2x2x2 best to 5.96, an improvement of 56.1 percent, while Vinh Huynh registered a first attempt in Pyraminx of 13.71. Rohan Choi completed a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed in 30.37, and Brodie Sellar tackled seven events, achieving a sixth-place finish in 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a first attempt time of 7:41.18.

Across two full days of high-level solving, Adelaide Summer 2024 demonstrated both the technical precision required for blindfolded problem-solving and the sheer speed needed for multi-event success. With deep participation across all seven events, the official WCA competition at Prince Alfred College delivered memorable personal triumphs, competitive finals, and balanced racing across every round.