Croatian Championship 2024

Alexey Tsvetkov put on a masterclass of multi-discipline speedcubing across two days in Petrinja, Croatia, claiming five separate titles to head an action-packed weekend. The marquee 3x3x3 Cube event served as the centerpiece of his dominant run, where he topped a competitive field of 77 competitors across three rounds with a winning average of 6.45 seconds and a best single solve of 6.14 seconds. Kosovar standout Lir Ukaj secured second place on the podium with a 6.61 average, while Slovenia Oskar Vidicek earned third with an 8.34 average. The official 3x3 results capped a showcase of elite solving across the entire weekend.

Hosted at the Osnovna skola Dragutina Tadijanovica from September 28 to September 29, the Croatian Championship 2024 brought together 80 competitors taking part in 14 events and 22 rounds. Organizers and competitors gathered for a major WCA competition that tested every format from the traditional Rubik Cube to specialty disciplines. The venue provided the setting for an expansive schedule where regional rivals met on the competition floor, creating intense matchups from the opening heats to the Sunday finals.

Tsvetkov was relentless across shorter puzzles and specialty categories alike. In the 2x2x2 Cube final, he captured the title with a swift 1.68 average and an event single of 1.23 seconds, complementing his qualification performances where he set a 1.04 single and 1.39 average. He added another victory in the Pyraminx with an average of 2.08 seconds, alongside a 1.90 single. Transitioning to Skewb, Tsvetkov posted a 2.37 winning average with a 2.15 single, before showing his dexterity in the one-handed format by taking first place in the 3x3x3 One-Handed event with a 10.88 average and a 9.05 single.

The larger puzzles brought their own share of drama as Oskar Vidicek and David Vujasic split high-profile titles. Vidicek claimed the 5x5x5 Cube gold with a 59.37 average and a 49.99 single, finishing ahead of Nenad Marjanovic at 1:03.20 and Vujasic at 1:03.35. Vidicek also captured the Megaminx title with a 46.52 average, besting Vujasic who logged 50.78 and Dmytro Kachanov who reached third at 1:03.11. Vujasic struck gold in the 6x6x6 Cube, taking top honors with a 1:53.92 average over Vidicek and Andrej Mikulic, who later won the 7x7x7 Cube with an average of 2:43.54.

Beyond the top steps of the podium, several competitors made substantial strides in Petrinja across new formats and personal benchmarks. Vili Novotny achieved a massive 38 percent drop in Pyraminx with a personal best of 10.26 seconds compared to a previous 16.55, while also improving his 3x3x3 Cube best to 29.34 seconds, a 10.9 percent drop. Karlo Tretinjak took on seven events, recording a 14th-place finish in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, a first official attempt in Clock of 35.53 seconds, a first 3x3x3 One-Handed attempt of 1:20.84, and a 3x3x3 Cube personal best of 30.41 seconds, which cut 31.4 percent from his previous mark. Viktor Pucovic entered five events, logging his first official marks in Skewb at 10.30 seconds and 4x4x4 Cube at 1:38.06, while securing a Pyraminx personal best of 7.92 seconds.

The progress continued across the scorecards as Mara Vivien Puljic tackled eight disciplines, finishing 14th in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, recording a first Skewb attempt of 12.67 seconds, and trimming her 3x3x3 One-Handed personal best by 29.4 percent down to 19.70 seconds alongside an 8.76 Pyraminx best. Lara Pernar improved across three puzzles, lowering her Pyraminx mark by 33 percent to 14.17 seconds, her Skewb best by 28 percent to 13.38 seconds, and her 2x2x2 Cube best by 14 percent to 11.53 seconds. Marin Grgic entered 12 events, finishing 8th in Fewest Moves on a first-ever attempt of 50, alongside personal bests of 9.90 in 3x3x3 and 3.84 in 2x2x2. Marko Ivec dropped his 2x2x2 personal best by 30.7 percent to 3.83 seconds and his 3x3x3 mark by 24.4 percent to 11.35 seconds.

Specialty events tested patience and precision throughout the weekend schedule. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded division, Jakov Sreckovic secured the top spot with a fast 24.38 winning average and a 21.42 single solve, finishing ahead of Germany Konstantin Jaehne and Filip Aleksic. Jaehne took his own victory in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, recording a best single of 27 moves across the field of 18 competitors. In the Clock event, Dmytro Kachanov took first place with a 5.78 average, edging out Sreckovic at 6.18 and Jaehne at 6.33, while Anton Kokalj Pezzano clinched Square-1 with a 12.43 average.

Across the entire medal table, Croatian competitors led all nations with 14 podium finishes, followed by Slovenia with 9, Russia with 5, Germany with 4, and Kosovo and Ukraine with 3 apiece. Lir Ukaj captured the 4x4x4 Cube title with a 32.75 average, outperforming Vujasic and Sreckovic in a tight final. The gathering proved to be a vibrant cubing competition, emphasizing the depth of speed cubing talent in the region. The Croatian Championship 2024 concluded having demonstrated the standard of competition across every single bracket.

Sportska dvorana u sklopu lokacije Osnovna škola Dragutina Tadijanovića u gradu Petrinja, Croatia bila je ispunjena natjecateljskom energijom tijekom dvodnevnog programa održanog 28. i 29. rujna. Na stolovima su se slagale raznovrsne slagalice dok su mjerači vremena bilježili stotinke sekunde u napetom rasporedu. Ukupno 80 natjecatelja okupilo se kako bi odmjerilo snage kroz 14 disciplina i 22 natjecateljska kruga. Bilo je to veliko okupljanje ljubitelja brzog slaganja poznatog kao speedcubing, gdje je svako slaganje donosilo novu dozu uzbuđenja na borilištu.

Domaća publika imala je poseban razlog za slavlje zahvaljujući izvanrednim nastupima hrvatskih predstavnika koji su ostvarili sjajne plasmane na domaćem terenu. David Vujasić oduševio je prisutne osvajanjem prvog mjesta u disciplini 6x6x6 Cube uz pobjednički prosjek 1:53.92 i najbolji pojedinačni pokušaj od 1:46.54, nadmašivši jaku konkurenciju u kojoj je Oskar Vidiček iz Slovenije bio drugi s 1:57.40, a Andrej Mikulić iz Bosne i Hercegovine treći s 1:57.99. Vujasić je također izborio drugo mjesto u 4x4x4 Cube s prosjekom 33.84 te broncu u Megaminxu i 5x5x5 Cube, dok je Hrvatska ukupno prikupila 14 pobjedničkih postolja.

U iznimno zahtjevnoj disciplini 3x3x3 Blindfolded, gdje je za uspješno rješavanje zavezanih očiju nužna savršena memorizacija, domaći predstavnik Jakov Srečković dominirao je s pobjedničkim prosjekom od 24.38 i pojedinačnim vremenom 21.42. Srečković je iza sebe ostavio njemačkog predstavnika Konstantina Jaehnea s prosjekom 39.01 i Filipa Aleksića s 1:41.39. Srečković je također uzeo srebro u disciplini Clock s rezultatom 6.18, odmah iza pobjednika Dmytra Kachanova iz Ukrajine koji je slavio s prosjekom 5.78, dok je Konstantin Jaehne bio treći s 6.33.

Glavna disciplina vikenda, klasična Rubikova kocka odnosno 3x3x3 Cube, okupila je 77 natjecatelja kroz tri kruga na turniru Croatian Championship 2024. Pobjedu je odnio Alexey Tsvetkov s impresivnim pobjedničkim prosjekom od 6.45 i najboljim pojedinačnim slaganjem od 6.14. Drugo mjesto pripalo je Liru Ukaju koji je ostvario prosjek 6.61, dok je treći bio Oskar Vidiček s 8.34. Tsvetkov je imao iznimno uspješan nastup jer je slavio i u disciplinama 2x2x2 Cube s prosjekom 1.68, Pyraminx s 2.08, Skewb s 2.37 te 3x3x3 One-Handed s prosjekom 10.88.

Iza svjetala vodećih postolja, brojni su natjecatelji ispisali vlastite velike priče kroz osobne rekorde i hrabre prve nastupe. Filip Bečić odradio je čak 14 disciplina te zabilježio ogroman napredak u disciplini Skewb s osobnim rekordom 6.55, što je 34.2 posto brže od prijašnjih 9.95, dok je u 7x7x7 Cube skinuo 28.9 posto na 6:35.84, a u 6x6x6 Cube popravio vrijeme za 17.3 posto na 5:23.56. Bruno Ivančić nastupio je u 11 disciplina, odradio svoj prvi pokušaj na 6x6x6 Cube s 5:40.80 te ostvario osobni rekord na Square-1 od 13.84, što je 20.5 posto brže od prijašnjeg rezultata, uz 12.8 posto napretka na 5x5x5 Cube s 2:03.27. Bartul Marušić je u 9 disciplina ostvario 2.41 na 2x2x2 Cube, popravivši osobni rekord za 19.9 posto, te 25.66 na Square-1 uz napredak od 18.6 posto i 11.27 na 3x3x3 Cube.

Ovo službeno WCA natjecanje pružilo je savršenu priliku i za natjecatelje koji su tek zakoračili na scenu ili se okušali u novim formatima. Andrij Rozbakov debitirao je na svom prvom natjecanju kroz 7 disciplina, upisavši prve rezultate na Clocku s 18.07, Pyraminxu s 7.54 i Skewbu s 10.64. Vedran Štefulj je također zabilježio svoje prvo natjecanje nastupivši u 5 disciplina, gdje je ostvario prve pokušaje na Square-1 s 20.07 i 9. mjestom, 5x5x5 Cube s 2:15.78 te 3x3x3 Cube s 19.36. Ludvik Domicijan Vrhovšek nastupio je u 6 disciplina, zabilježio svoj prvi pokušaj na Square-1 s 55.44 i popravio rekord na 2x2x2 Cube na 4.05, dok je Nika Arsov odradila 13 disciplina, upisala prvi pokušaj u 3x3x3 Blindfolded s 7:30.00 te postavila osobne rekorde na 6x6x6 Cube s 2:55.91 i Clocku s 9.39.

U većim slagalicama istaknuo se slovenski natjecatelj Oskar Vidiček, koji je pobijedio u Megaminxu s prosjekom 46.52 ispred Davida Vujasića s 50.78, a slavio je i u 5x5x5 Cube s prosjekom 59.37 ispred Nenada Marjanovića s 1:03.20 i Vujasića s 1:03.35. U disciplini 7x7x7 Cube slavio je Andrej Mikulić s prosjekom 2:43.54 ispred Serafima Weißa s 3:08.51 i Vidičeka s 3:10.92. Lir Ukaj osigurao je zlato u 4x4x4 Cube s prosjekom 32.75, Anton Kokalj Pezzano pobijedio je u Square-1 s prosjekom 12.43, dok je Konstantin Jaehne uzeo prvo mjesto u 3x3x3 Fewest Moves s najboljim pokušajem od 27 poteza.

Nakon dva dana intenzivnih nadmetanja, ovo veliko natjecanje u slaganju kocke pokazalo je snagu regionalne zajednice i visoku razinu vještine natjecatelja iz više zemalja. Domaći uspjesi Davida Vujasića i Jakova Srečkovića pred publikom u Petrinji dali su poseban ton cijelom događaju, a brojna ostvarena postolja potvrdila su kvalitetu natjecanja. Turnir Croatian Championship 2024 uspješno je zaključen u odličnom sportskom duhu, ostavljajući natjecateljima vrijedne rezultate i pripremu za nadolazeće izazove nove sezone.