A New Year in Auckland 2026

Inside the Māngere Central Community Hall, the rhythmic clatter of plastic faces turning at breakneck speed filled the air as solving stations buzzed from the opening scrambles. Timers reset and hands hovered over touchpads across two intense days of solving from January 16 to January 17. The host city set the stage for an intense regional showdown, bringing together 54 competitors to Auckland, New Zealand, for A New Year in Auckland 2026. With local standouts defending home turf against visiting talent from abroad, every round carried the weight of an early-season statement.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube event drew a packed field of 52 competitors across three rounds of high-stakes speedcubing. Local ace Andrew Feng delivered an absolute masterclass for the home contingent, securing the victory with a blistering 5.78 winning average. Feng also threw down the fastest single of the weekend at 4.41 to lock down first place on the podium. Alexander Vujcich followed in second place with a 7.28 average, while Elyas Eyou completed an all-New Zealand top three with a mark of 7.83, setting a fierce standard in the headline 3x3 results.

International challengers made their presence felt emphatically in the sprint events, preventing a clean sweep for the domestic contingent. In the 2x2x2 Cube final, China standout Yuki Gao snatched the title with a razor-thin 1.25 winning average and a 1.03 single across two rounds of play. Gao fended off Elyas Eyou, who finished runner-up at 1.61, while Alexander Vujcich claimed third with 1.80. The clash between overseas speed and local depth provided constant drama across the short-format brackets at this WCA competition.

Malaysia competitor Camerone Chin proved equally formidable in the specialty puzzles, taking home top honours in two distinct disciplines. Chin conquered the Square-1 event with an 8.20 winning average, finishing ahead of Elyas Eyou at 10.05 and Ashley Foster at 10.25. Chin followed that triumph with a shared victory in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, matching New Zealand rival Xavier Courteau-Laing with an ultra-efficient 29-move solution, while Cheng-Ru Yang took third place on 31 moves in the single-round contest.

New Zealand representatives hit back decisively in the twisty puzzle categories as Elyas Eyou produced a sensational double-gold performance. Eyou captured the Pyraminx title with a tidy 2.15 winning average after setting the event benchmark with a 1.22 single. Returning to the stage for Skewb, Eyou topped the podium once more with a 4.29 average, edging out fellow countrymen Zoen Gibbons at 4.68 and Richard Yiheng Tao at 4.83 in an all-Kiwi top three battle.

The complexity escalated in the larger and untimed puzzles, where endurance and spatial awareness took centre stage. Alexander Vujcich secured Megaminx supremacy with a stellar 26.60 winning average, leading Brandon Harris at 32.49 and Levi Eyou at 45.14. Levi Eyou quickly found redemption on the big stage, winning the 7x7x7 Cube with a 2:25.49 average over Richard Yiheng Tao at 2:26.42 and Andrew Feng at 2:43.35. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded division, Jerry Jiang took the win with a decisive 46.53 single, outpacing Feng at 47.44 and Chin at 1:10.81.

Beyond the championship trophies, the weekend saw remarkable individual breakthroughs across the nine featured events. Saben Morris delivered one of the weekend largest improvements, dropping his Skewb mark to a 5.35 personal best, which was 74.9 percent faster than his previous best of 21.31, while also improving in 3x3x3 Cube and Pyraminx across four events. Henry Layzell took on five events, achieving an 8th-place finish in Skewb, logging a first ever attempt at Square-1 with 40.99, and cutting his 3x3x3 Cube best to 11.86, a 46.4 percent drop from 22.11. Hussain Alsibaee tackled five events, completing a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 3:24.07 alongside a 27.2 percent improvement in Skewb to 13.73. Johnson Kan entered four disciplines, securing 10th in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves with a debut 51-move solution and dropping his Megaminx time to 1:17.53, an improvement of 28.6 percent.

The progress continued with Felix Dumble-Bauer, who recorded a first ever attempt at Pyraminx of 9.00 and dropped his classic Rubik's Cube best by 28 percent down to 12.67 across three events. Stefan Zdravkovic sharpened his 3x3x3 Cube personal best to 10.58, shaving 34.1 percent off his prior 16.05 standard. Veteran Theo Barton took on seven events, placing 7th in the 3x3x3 Cube and lowering his 7x7x7 Cube best to 5:04.80, which was 21.8 percent faster than his old 6:29.84 mark. Kaiden Ziegler shouldered an eight-event workload, finishing 4th in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves with a debut 35-move count while trimming his 7x7x7 Cube time down to 6:08.48.

Across 20 rounds of intense speed cubing, the tournament delivered high-calibre results while uniting competitors from across the region and overseas. From the high-speed sprint duels to the measured precision of blindfolded and fewest-moves challenges, the gathering highlighted the incredible depth of talent in the southern hemisphere. As the final scrambles cleared from the tables, A New Year in Auckland 2026 drew to an unforgettable close, setting a demanding benchmark for the rest of the 2026 season.