Bay Area Speedcubin' 65 - Berkeley 2024

A total of 96 competitors took to the tables for the premier 3x3x3 Cube event at the East Pauley Ballroom in Berkeley, California, USA on September 29, 2024. Across eight rounds spanning five distinct events, the single-day gathering delivered relentless speedcubing action. The main event reached a dramatic conclusion where Heidi Chan secured the championship with a winning average of 6.80 seconds, finishing a single hundredth of a second ahead of Ethan Jan who posted a 6.81 mark. Paul Mahvi captured third place on the podium with a strong 7.37 average.

The 3x3 results across the weekend reflected deep talent from the opening stage through the finals. Micah Yeo laid down the quickest single solve of the entire competition with a blistering 5.44 effort during the 3x3x3 Cube rounds. Several solvers recorded personal benchmarks, including Zerui Cheng with a 6.58 single and 6.89 average, Mahvi with a 6.65 single and 7.27 average, and Vismay Murthy posting a 6.67 single alongside a 7.88 average. The sharp speed at Bay Area Speedcubin' 65 - Berkeley 2024 set the tone for every puzzle category that followed.

Jan delivered standout performances across multiple disciplines beyond his runner-up spot in the primary Rubik's Cube category. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Jan topped a field of 64 competitors to take victory with a 27.69 average and the weekend's best single of 23.75 seconds. Mahvi followed in second place with a 30.78 average, while Chan added to her collection by finishing third in 32.06 seconds. Jan also collected a silver medal in 3x3x3 One-Handed with an 11.78 average, demonstrating broad mastery.

The 3x3x3 One-Handed division drew 57 competitors across two rounds and culminated in a victory for Anto Kam, who posted a decisive 10.75 winning average and the round's best single solve at 9.16 seconds. Calix Tang completed the podium in third place with a 12.05 average. In the classic speed cubing sprint categories, competitors demonstrated sharp fingertricks and consistent execution from the first turn through the decisive rounds.

Away from the top steps of the podium, several participants posted remarkable personal breakthroughs throughout the weekend. Thomson Chen delivered an outstanding leap in the 3x3x3 Cube, cutting his personal best by 42.1 percent down to 29.46 seconds. Sebastian Hong shaved 40.6 percent off his 3x3x3 One-Handed record with a new best of 23.59 seconds, while also reaching a 56.67 personal best in 4x4x4 Cube. Jonathan Dunkley made a notable advance in the 3x3x3 Cube, improving his personal mark by 35.7 percent to 27.63 seconds. Brandon Yee competed across five events, dropping his 6x6x6 Cube best by 25.9 percent to 3:02.73 and completing his first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 3:22.56.

Other solvers tackled new challenges for the very first time at this cubing competition. Taylor Schannon contested five events, taking on a first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 5:02.83 and setting a 3x3x3 One-Handed personal best of 21.60 seconds, which was 23.3 percent faster than before. Phu-An Le logged a first attempt at 4x4x4 Cube with a time of 36.29 seconds to claim 21st place. Eysin Fujita made debut attempts in both 3x3x3 One-Handed at 36.43 seconds and 4x4x4 Cube at 1:17.07, while dropping his 3x3x3 Cube best to 16.01 seconds. In his first WCA competition, Nimish Nijhawan contested four separate events, recording an opening mark of 16.92 in the 3x3x3 Cube and a 53rd-place finish in 4x4x4 Cube.

The larger puzzles brought intense endurance tests to the ballroom schedule. In the 6x6x6 Cube, Sheldon Rego claimed first place among 34 entrants by putting together a 1:33.09 winning average, backed by a fast single solve of 1:26.19. Kevin Lee earned the second step on the podium with a 1:42.14 average, followed closely by An Le in third place with a 1:45.09 mark. The contest required sustained precision across numerous extended solve attempts.

Memorisation and pure recall highlighted the 3x3x3 Blindfolded bracket, which tested 31 competitors across two distinct rounds. Calix Tang secured first place with a top single solve of 27.41 seconds. Cindy Xiaoyue Huang took the second spot on the podium by clocking a 29.73 single, while Nolan Yiu claimed third place in 32.56 seconds. The event capped a successful multi-event showing for Tang, who earned hardware with both eyes open and under the blindfold.

With 97 competitors representing diverse nations, the United States collected twelve podium spots, while Hong Kong, India, and China secured one each. From dramatic one-hundredth-of-a-second margins at the top of the standings to individual milestones across five official events, Bay Area Speedcubin' 65 - Berkeley 2024 provided a memorable day of racing in Northern California as solvers look ahead to the next chapter of the season.