Chichester January 2025

Inside Chichester College across January 18 and 19, the competition tables were a blur of quick turns, tumbling plastic, and ticking stackmats. A gathering of 95 competitors filled the venue in Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom, settling in for a packed weekend of speedcubing action. The two-day cubing competition featured eight distinct events spread across 16 total rounds, bringing together both seasoned solvers and energetic newcomers to start the 2025 calendar in style.

While single-handed dexterity and precise fingertricks define modern speed cubing technique, the classic three-by-three event demanded unmatched consistency across three rounds. When the final 3x3 results were tallied, Sean Moran captured the top spot on the podium for the United Kingdom. Moran recorded a winning average of 7.98 seconds, backed by a best single of 7.43 seconds, edging out James Tuppenney with an 8.04 average and Jake Brown with an 8.41 average.

The lightning-fast 2x2x2 Cube division featured 72 competitors and three full rounds of fierce scrambling. Italy's Fabio Rossi stood atop the podium after posting a dominant winning average of 1.98 seconds, complete with a sharp 1.61 single. James Tuppenney took second place with a 2.40 average, while Harry Dixon claimed third with a 2.43 average. The event proved to be exceptionally quick overall, generating multiple personal best marks and rapid times throughout the elimination brackets.

Jake Brown proved to be one of the most prolific performers at Chichester January 2025, taking victories in two distinct disciplines. Brown secured the Pyraminx title with a 3.86 winning average, finishing ahead of Blake Scott Bassett at 4.43 and Ben Stokes at 4.94. Brown then doubled his gold tally in the 5x5x5 Cube, clocking a 53.73 average and a 52.47 single to hold off Harry Dixon at 54.11 and Sean Moran at 54.89 in a closely contested final.

The spotlight also shone brightly on personal breakthroughs away from the podium. Henry Tear enjoyed a massive weekend, lowering his Pyraminx personal best to 4.53 seconds, an improvement of 57.3 percent, while cutting his 5x5x5 Cube best by 48.7 percent down to 1:26.54 and reducing his Megaminx mark by 22.7 percent to 1:23.60. Harvey Chan shaved 51.8 percent off his Rubik's Cube best with a 20.19 single, dropped his 2x2x2 Cube mark to 5.81, and registered a first ever Pyraminx attempt of 8.57. Charlie Tsang made a first ever official attempt on the 2x2x2 Cube with a 10.97 and chopped 47.3 percent off his Pyraminx time down to 7.24. Jacob Melotti posted a 4.32 personal best in Pyraminx, an improvement of 32.6 percent, while cutting his 5x5x5 Cube time by 43.9 percent to 1:38.79 and recording his first ever Megaminx attempt at 2:07.17.

Other dedicated competitors made impressive strides across the roster. Reuben Heath improved his 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 35.8 percent to 2.87, dropped his Pyraminx mark by 27.8 percent to 9.53, and trimmed his 3x3x3 Cube best to 12.70. Logan Tonon tackled the Megaminx for the first time with an opening mark of 1:00.77 to secure 13th place, alongside a 28.1 percent drop in his 3x3x3 Cube best to 9.91. Making their first WCA competition appearances, Theodore Brown successfully logged opening marks of 13.24 in Pyraminx, 17.31 in 2x2x2 Cube, and 31.94 in the 3x3x3 Cube, while Azeen Adnan Ramay debuted with a 23.06 in the 3x3x3 Cube, a 6.95 in the 2x2x2 Cube, and a 13.65 in Pyraminx.

Blindfolded events brought intense concentration and silence to the venue floor. Ben Stokes delivered an outstanding performance in the 3x3x3 Blindfolded discipline, winning with a single of 19.51 seconds over Adam Devere at 36.47 and Michael Ngan at 42.49. Stokes added a second blindfolded triumph in the grueling 5x5x5 Blindfolded event, being the sole competitor in a field of 12 to log a successful solve, claiming victory in 7:49.20. In the 4x4x4 Blindfolded round, Hong Kong's Michael Ngan took top honours with an average of 4:17.07 and a single of 3:41.77.

The 12-sided Megaminx contest showcased deep endurance across two rounds, where Aidan Grainger dominated the final. Grainger captured the Megaminx title with a winning average of 29.02 seconds and a single of 27.65, leading Sean Moran at 33.07 and Egypt's Ali Antar at 40.48. As the equipment was packed away, Chichester January 2025 concluded a memorable weekend of competition, setting a high standard of precision and personal progress for the season ahead.