Bolton Summer 2024

Inside the halls of Bolton School, the focused hush of competition was punctuated only by the rapid clacking of turning plastic and the sudden tap of hands meeting timer pads. Over the weekend of June 29 to June 30, a packed schedule placed every competitor under tournament pressure across twenty demanding rounds. Contenders gathered from across the region to test their preparation, knowing that each stage of the multi-round format required absolute composure to avoid elimination.

The 2024 gathering saw 107 competitors descend on Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom for Bolton Summer 2024. Across ten official disciplines, competitors took on everything from standard speedcubing puzzles to complex multi-layered mechanisms. With championship-level focus required through every phase, entrants faced deep fields and narrow cutoffs as they sought to advance from preliminary rounds to Sunday afternoon finals.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube event drew a massive field of 90 entrants, where three rigorous stages separated the contenders. In the decisive final, Luke Burns delivered the winning average of 6.93 seconds to secure top honours, backed by a best single of 6.04 seconds. The 3x3 results confirmed a tightly contested podium, with Caleb Wolf Dunn claiming second place with a 7.11 average, while Nicholas Archer secured third place at 7.54 seconds in the classic Rubik's Cube showdown.

Daniel Partridge put together an extraordinary individual performance throughout Bolton Summer 2024, collecting three separate titles. Partridge secured victory in Pyraminx with a 2.09 winning average after navigating three competitive rounds. He continued his winning form in Skewb, taking first place with a 3.28 average, before adding a triumph in the 5x5x5 Cube final with a mark of 53.64 seconds, edging runner-up Danny Morgan at 53.97 seconds.

Elsewhere on the schedule, Nicholas Archer posted a commanding performance in 3x3x3 One-Handed, winning the event with a 9.73 average. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Sean Moran took the title with a 30.63 average, leading Danny Morgan and Thomas Bevan. Aidan Grainger topped the Megaminx standings by logging an impressive 30.19 winning average across two rounds, while Dan Turner set the pace in the 2x2x2 Cube by recording a 1.65 average to take first place.

Beyond the podium battles, this WCA competition provided a stage for breakthrough milestones across the broader field. Chi-Yuan Huang achieved a dramatic 57.9 percent drop in Skewb with a 13.10 mark and lowered their 3x3x3 Cube best by 24.8 percent to 35.18. Daniel Gunasekera took on six events, delivering a 2x2x2 Cube personal best of 2.30 that was 52.2 percent faster than before, while also recording debut attempts of 31.54 in 3x3x3 One-Handed and 1:55.79 in 4x4x4 Cube. Zachary Gold Hanif tackled eight events, improving his 3x3x3 One-Handed mark by 51.6 percent down to 31.21. Tim Mosedale dropped his 3x3x3 Cube time by 38.7 percent to 33.89 and completed first-time entries in Pyraminx at 11.88 and 2x2x2 Cube at 8.83.

The progress continued across various disciplines as Marcus Saba entered seven events, taking a 34.6 percent improvement in 3x3x3 One-Handed to 34.57, dropping his 4x4x4 Cube time by 32 percent to 1:14.62, and completing his first 5x5x5 Cube solve in 3:01.59. Charlie Duriez lowered his 2x2x2 Cube mark by 33 percent to 5.59 and logged a debut Skewb time of 13.34. Kai Vermeulen took on nine events, logging a 24.8 percent personal best of 2.40 in 2x2x2 Cube alongside a first attempt at 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 7:32.38. Ryan Chauhan also embraced a busy seven-event schedule, cutting his 3x3x3 Cube best by 22.6 percent to 12.25 and posting a first 5x5x5 Cube result of 2:29.50.

The weekend concluded with memory-intensive blindfolded events, where mental precision under tournament conditions decided the titles. In 3x3x3 Blindfolded, Jaye Sloan took victory with a single of 20.58 seconds, ahead of Ryan Eckersley and CJ Brooke. Eckersley returned to the table to claim first place in the 4x4x4 Blindfolded event with a time of 1:27.54. The action wrapped up Bolton Summer 2024 as another demanding cubing competition that tested the full spectrum of speed cubing skills.